Yesterday, before hitting the parade I headed over to Niagara Street to take a look at some preliminary clean-up action going on at the 'free house'. When I arrived, Harvey was clearing out some of the junk with Randy Ortego (Owner of DPMNY, who saw the original post) and a friend. Randy was cool enough to lend his truck in order to haul the stuff away. Even though the back two apartments were a mess, I was amazed at the overall good condition of the house. I asked Harvey what he thought in regards to the progress and he had this to say:
"We finished doing a partial cleanup and we took some of the exterior boards down - one off the first floor and three off the third floor (see photo below). This week(end) we are going to show the property to nine people who expressed interest from the BRO post. Everyone else who doesn't get the house will be shown others on the West Side that might be compatible with their needs. The front apartment is almost ready to be lived in. The brand new electric looks to be fine... this was a high-end rehab not too long ago. It sold for $80,000 a year and a half ago. This would make for a great double. There's a beautiful fireplace on the second floor. The two back apartments need to be completely gutted. It has a new roof and a new paint job... that alone has to be worth $25,000. The exterior just needs new glass where the windows are. The main issue with the interior... it needs to be re-plumbed, and the back apartments are 'tear outs'... the rest need plumbing, and that will require patching with some drywall. Once this is acquired we'll find homes for the rest of the people who were interested in this one."
So in summary:
Bad news:
- Lots of clean up needs to be done.
- One fire damaged apartment that will need to be completely gutted
- One water damaged apartment that will need to be completely gutted
- Copper pipes stolen and will need to be replaced throughout, and walls patched in every apartment.
- Windows will need to be repaired / replaced throughout house.
- One front door (of a matched pair) missing.
- Vacant house next door that needs to be addressed but is for sale (which is good news)
Good news:
- Roof near perfect (from what I can tell)
- Paint and clapboards near perfect
- New electric throughout - even the remaining plumbing (that wasn't copper) is new.
- One apartment that could not only be easily livable while the rest of the project is completed but is very, very nice.
- Two other apartments could be fairly easily brought back - need work but not gutting.
- Great 3rd floor mansard space that was never built out and has a lot of potential.
- Beautiful house. I would take this one for free in a heartbeat if I were looking right now. It could really be great if it was converted back to a single or double.
So - far from perfect, will need a lot of work, but in my opinion worth a dollar and a lot of hard work.