Dangerous building threatens SW Detroit neighbors

DETROIT – Grace Patino has lived in her southwest Detroit neighborhood for nearly 15 years.

She says an abandoned duplex has been the area's No. 1 problem for years.

"It used to be a nice building. Now there's prostitution and it looks like a meeting place for a boyfriend-girlfriend type of thing. And it's nasty inside," she said.

She isn't exaggerating. Years of abuse and neglect have taken a toll on the building. What's worse: there is a school on the same block.

"So you have children going by there in the mornings and afternoons. It's a danger to them. The building is not secure. The windows are all open. There have been several fires there," said Rosa Cruz-Avila, who lives nearby.

For these neighbors, there are only a few options left.

"Demolition or rebuild it," said Patino. "Somebody buy it and rebuild it."

That's exactly what somebody is trying to do. The Detroit Land Bank, which is managing the sale of Detroit's abandoned properties, says a sale is in the works.

"We just got approached just a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact, by a group that would like to purchase and rehab the building, which is great," said Craig Fahle, a land bank spokesman.

Despite all of this, the plan is to rehab the building.

"If you've got a good block like this one is over on St. Lawrence, and there is one building that may be detracting, we've been starting to see an uptick in volume from people who are interested in purchasing and rehabbing some of these structures," said Fahle.

The process likely will take awhile. Meanwhile, patience is running thin.

"It doesn't make the neighborhood look good, and it's dirty and attracts all kinds of bad people. I don't like it," said Patino.

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About the Author:

Nick joined the Local 4 team in February of 2015. Prior to that he spent 6 years in Sacramento covering a long list of big stories including wildfires and earthquakes. Raised in Sterling Heights, he is no stranger to the deep history and pride Detroit has to offer.