Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Gregge Johnson Properties - A Photo Tour



Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

As previously reported, the city of Minneapolis is set to revoke Gregge Johnson's rental licenses as early as this Friday. After a previous photo tour of a slumlord's properties, I set out to compare Gregge Johnson's properties with others owned by slumlords.

During my walkabout, I ran into one resident who said that he was told by a city inspector that Johnson had as many as 58 properties and was losing 48 of them to foreclosure. This bit of information is unconfirmed but blog-worthy. The city council is reviewing licenses on only the properties previously mentioned, so those are the ones shown on this post. As always, JNS readers are encouraged to submit comments here. But since the revocation is coming before the city council on Friday, be aware this blog is independent from the city and comments should also be directed to your city council member.

Pictured above is...

3940 4th Ave S, complete with a close-up of a commonly-placed red placard indicating a rental license revocation. Johnson also seems to follow the Khan model of mismatched siding, although not as often as the first few properties seemed to indicate.

Question: what would you do if you had windows boarded by the city? Would you replace them, or paint the whole house "Castrejon Gray"? It looks like Johnson went with the latter here:



Next up is 3325 5th Ave S. Obvious problems ASIDE, this one initially doesn't look too bad.


Until you get to more window issues.


This gets somewhat confusing when looking at an awning UNDER a deck/porch area. Although I'm no expert it seems to me that SOMETHING wasn't built the way it ought to have been.


But then we come across the scariest garage ever seen. Children and budding young home inspectors with sensitive eyes should skip these photos. This looked seriously creepy, like it could have been a set for a scene in a low-budget horror flick. At best it deserves an entry on thereifixedit.com. I can imagine a prospective buyer asking Johnson, "What's the primary construction material used for this garage?" and he'd have a tough time deciding between plywood, tarpaulin, and old pickup truck.




I especially like the calendar from 2008 on the wall here. It's nice touches like this that make the difference between a squatter's HOUSE and a squatter's HOME.


1518 Park Ave and 2621 Oak Park Ave (the latter is in NoMi) actually look respectable.



We do have siding issues again:


1819 Queen Ave N was your typical vacant property, with a notable exception. The Natalie Johnson Lee flier in the door. This shouldn't be a knock on Natalie personally, but it does show sloppy campaign workers. The flier was most likely left AFTER the notice that the property had no rental license. Another sign on the door indicated the property's been winterized and a moldering phone book was on the front porch.



2222 McNair looks to be occupied. What's interesting here is that the placard indicating rental license revocation has been stripped away. Click on the picture for a closer examination, and you can see that it is indeed the same one posted on other properties. One wonders if anything was ever brought into compliance here, or did Johnson or someone else take this off without permission?


Nothing jumped out as noteworthy regarding 1639 Washburn ave N or 2911 Sheridan Ave N, but photos are posted here so that residents might recognize them and share information:



3459 Oliver Ave N looks gorgeous and had a curious notice on the back door:



3811 Humboldt Ave N is an odd one. It's included in the list of properties Johnson owns and will have a rental license revoked from. However, everything on the odd side of the 3800 block of Humboldt Ave N is, technically, a cemetery. Now who would live there? Either the address is wrong or Johnson tried to rent out a cemetery plot.

Finally, we have 3607 Bryant Ave N. This house was open to trespass in several ways, it had already been boarded at least once, and it appears as if Johnson used some city boards to shore up the front porch. And by "shore up," I mean "make only slightly less spongy." Visible from one window are blankets set up in a way that clearly indicate squatters--or worse--are spending the night.






And so ends another slummy fantastic voyage. Surprisingly, many of these houses look salvageable and even immediately habitable. One wonders how bad the other several dozen properties Johnson reportedly has lost or will lose are. It would also be terrific if the better properties could be (legally) lived in, while keeping rental income from Gregge Johnson. This is most likely a pipe dream, however. Any outrage over this situation should be directed at Johnson for his outright disregard for his own properties, his tenants, and the community as a whole. Let's create a culture in NoMi and throughout Minneapolis where we say that behavior of this nature by landlords will simply not be tolerated. Goodbye Gregge Johnson, and good riddance.

25 comments:

Molly MM said...

It looks like he's got 12 properties in Hennepin County in redemption, who knows how many more expired from the website, and it takes about 15-30 days from the sheriffs sale for properties to get on the Henn Cty website. That's the longest list I've ever seen under a single name before.

Jeff Skrenes said...

Ah yes. I double-checked the properties listed on this post, and here are the ones in foreclosure according to the Hennepin County website (http://www4.co.hennepin.mn.us/webforeclosure/):

3325 5th Ave S
3940 4th Ave S
1518 Park Ave

Nine other properties on that list...so far.

Anonymous said...

Dyna Sez:

Jeff, we've got so many highly qualified(?) slumlords in Minneapolis that we may have to give out awards. What should we call them? Maybe the "slummies"? Clearly Mr. Johnson looks like a winner in several catagories- I mean, is not that "garage" an engineering achievement worthy of an award beyond just the usual city citations? Mr. Johnson may deserve an award too for the pure volume of his housing offenses- whole forests will be wasted just to print all the legal notices!

MeganG. said...

Yes Dyna - we need an award ceremony for the Slummies. Please post it here... and also - you should post your election awards here for the JNS readers, I imagine most of them do not follow the issues list.

always enjoy your satire,

MG

veg*nation said...

@ Dyna--

LOL! the "slummies" would be a good category for the "best of the northside" awards (http://bit.ly/bestofnorth). the garage i think would be a contender in the category "best use of a vehicle as an architectural element."

Jeff Skrenes said...

I hate to cause disappointment, but I do need to remind folks that the garage in question was actually at one of Johnson's SOUTH Minneapolis properties.

Still, I like the idea of the "slummies" as an award. What kind of a trophy should we use? And would we want to actually try and present the award to the owner in question, or just post about it here? Would it be a city-wide award, or just limited to NoMi?

Even if it winds up being north-specific, that garage deserves an honorable mention at the very least.

veg*nation said...

@ hawkie

awww, that's too bad about the southside address. i've noticed for a while that the southside is catching up with us in all kinds of ways. if don samuels has his way, before long the northside won't even be a leader in crime statistics :-(

i definitely think that the slummies need to be presented in person.

MeganG. said...

I think we should limit it to northside and then we could ironically call it the No-Slummies.

And I think we should make efforts to get it to the award winner - even if written in parody we can let them know we don't appreciate them and we want "no-slummies".

The trophy could be... could be... a piece of trash or debris or anything symbolic that is found around THEIR house.

veg*nation said...

@ megan g:

and it could come with a certificate that is printed up to look like a notice from the city.

Johnny Northside said...

Well, I was saying to Jeff (Hawkman) that we should go to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc. and buy old trophies, then modify them with (drum roll) SHARPIE MARKER, the favorite of so many slumlords.

We could try to present in person, videotape it, and put the video footage on YouTube. Then link it here. WHAT FUN!!!

MeganG. said...

Good work JNS blog and Hawkman - it looks like your substanative post has been brought to the attention of WCCO

http://wcco.com/neweconomy/landlord.loses.license.2.1310093.html

I cannot even comprehend some of this idiot's quotes in the article. Losing $710,000 of rent money??? Dude, if you are losing that kind of rent money to non-payment - then you DESERVE to have your investments foreclosed and licenses revoked. Going to eviction court to find new tenants should be clue #1 (I've seen you there with my own eyes)

Housing child molesters??? Drug dealers?? My head is going to explode.

JNS Readers, this is the worst of the worst - the City of Minneapolis has a HUGE victory in this one.

THANK YOU DON SAMUELS! You're relentless advocacy for HIGHER STANDARDS for all is paying off - big time- the ripples you are sending out into the universe at IMMEASURABLE. Thank you Don.

Anonymous said...

Ok I have a question:
If so many of you don't want drug dealers, street walkers, sex offenders, crack heads and the like living in N Minneapolis, well where are these people supposed to live?

Johnny Northside said...

The experience of other areas tends to show that once revitalization takes root in an urban neighborhood with cool old houses, the trend is inevitable. The question of where problem people go isn't important or relevant. Jail. Another city. The cold hard grave. Or they can straighten up and fly right.

But this neighborhood is improving and I, for one, will not pause for thug hugging or worrying about where the poor thugs will go. AWAY. Let them GO AWAY.

Jeff Skrenes said...

John and I disagree on this one. I think that if we're going to allow ex-offenders to re-enter society, they have to live SOMEWHERE. I don't have an easy answer, but I don't have so much of a NIMBY attitude about it.

That being said, when a community has more than its fair share already, I do think that community can justifiably say "we're full."

I don't have a problem with a landlord who rents to ex-offenders as long as the behavior at the property is okay, the place is maintained, and the ex-offender remains an ex-offender.

Anonymous said...

Johnny Northside (2:01 PM)
RE: Gregge Johnson Properties-

Are you suggesting that those people don't have a right to live in NoMi without fear of being followed or plastered on this blog? Take a sex offender for example. How do you know if they were flying right or not? You just slammed them.
Wouldn't part of this concern with problem tenants be with the housing authority for approving their section 8 vouchers? You are aware that section 8 does not investigate anyone's criminal history so, who knows how many of these unsavory people the housing authority is paying for them to live there.
Further, a few weeks go you posted info about a person who owns several properties in NoMi and needs to be on the radar. My question is, for every rental property that is in need of a repair, how many owner occupant houses are also in need of repair and what is the city's position on those houses?

Johnny Northside said...

How do I know if Pete the Pedophile is flying right or not?

Um, let's see.

FACT: Pete is not allowed to use computers for ANY PURPOSE.

FACT: Peter just turned over a letter which appeared to be WORD PROCESSED with an email attached as supporting documentation.

As far as whether I know Pete is flying right or not, I'm allowed to use common sense to make a judgment. Pete is not flying right.

As far as sex offenders are concerned: WE ARE FULL. No more room at the inn.

Anonymous said...

Flying right:
You personally witnessed the letter being typed by Pete on a computer? You know for a fact that the email address is Pete's? To expand on the email address, is it forbidden for an offender to have an email address? Is it against the rules for an offender to have someone else type a letter for them, create the email address and send the email while they are standing next to them?
Who are you to publicly cast guilt on someone who may have asked another person to help them with a letter? Further, I would hardly consider having a letter typed and sent via email an offense serious enough to cast them out of their residence. Now if PROOF were to arise that the sex offender was engaging in sex crimes, rather than blast the person in public on your blog, why not call the authorities? In fact, have you spoken with the person who is handling Pete's case?
Lastly, what is the limit as to the maximum number of sex offenders allowed in a specific geographic area?

Anonymous said...

"As far as sex offenders are concerned: WE ARE FULL. No more room at the inn."

I see. Exactly how many sex offenders are living in NoMi and what are the boundaries? What exactly is considered the "inn?" Are you personally able to determine whether or not an individual is legally entitled to live in any given area?
It looks like if a person does not meet your personal agenda, you simply expose them as whatever you desire on your blog when in fact, they may not be violating any rules at all. Common sense in this case does not constitute proof. Beating them up in public after they have paid their debt to society does not seem to matter in the eyes of JNS.

Anonymous said...

to anon 130

WHO CARES where they go that would bee someone elses problem!

T Jaramillo

Anonymous said...

to anon cough "pete" cough

Isnt commenting on this blog against your probation. I almost didnt cacth it with out the the stttutter.

Johnny Northside said...

To Anonymous at 8:14 and probably the same Anonymous at 8:23.

Sex offenders living in North Minneapolis: A WHOLE LOT OF THEM. More than our fair shares. The "boundaries" are the 55411 zip code.

However, this blog has only reported on two sex offenders: Peter Richmeyer and Junaid Maalik, both of whom were caught doing things they shouldn't do and both of whom paid the consequences for that. I don't just "go after" all the sex offenders.

As for Pete Rickmeyer: this guy is no ordinary ex-offender. He is a registered LEVEL THREE sex offender who is subject to numerous conditions, including not being allowed to have computers or be on a computer. The letter in question was obviously word processed, NOT typed. Therefore, a (forbidden) computer had to be involved in generating the letter.

There was also an email attached to the letter. A computer had to be involved in printing the email.

But you know what? Pete's supervising agent can straighten all that out. The matter has already been reported to the supervising agent.

Johnny Northside said...

New, highly-relevant information about Peter's use of computers comes from his supervising agent, as follows:

Peter is allowed access to the internet on Wednesday afternoons and is supervised by staff at the Amicus programs. They are making sure he is not going into any inappropriate sites. If you would like to discuss this matter further, please feel free to contact me by phone.


Bobbie Chevalier-Jones
Hennepin County ISR Agent
2600 E 25th Street
Mpls., MN 55406
612-596-0504 Office
612-728-8951 Fax

Anonymous said...

Word processed, not typed?
How is it word processed without being typed? Alright, it must be "keyed" in, right?
So sorry Sir Johnny

Johnny Northside! said...

From the 2008 list of property tax assessments, some names associated with 1819 Queen Ave. N.

Service Address: 1819 QUEEN AVE N PID:1702924410056 Ward: 5 Taxpayer: GREGGE JOHNSON
Account: 1510706308 Past Due Balance: $226.43 Billpayer: LORRIE CROMWELL
Account: 1510706309 Past Due Balance: $77.08 Billpayer: KAVONNA FINCH
Account: 1510706310 Past Due Balance: $251.83 Billpayer: TARA WHITE
Total Assessment Amount for Property: $555.34

Johnny Northside! said...

Another Gregge Johnson address, this from a 2008 list of tax assessments.

Service Address: 3940 4TH AVE S PID:1002824110027 Ward: 8 Taxpayer: GREGGE JOHNSON
Account: 421190309 Past Due Balance: $580.31 Billpayer: CECELIA ELLIS
Total Assessment Amount for Property: $580.31