Mr. Slummy Keeps on Earning the Nickname

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Mohammed Amro of Amro's Properties Inc, has slowly but surely been progressing on his monstrosity at 2515 3rd St N. (Which has delinquent taxes, by the way.) The emphasis on slowly is apt, as I was informed over a month ago that he had been assessed for failing to complete the siding on the structure in a timely fashion. But yet, these recent photos indicate that the job STILL isn't done.

Recently, another organizer had stopped by to talk to the family living directly to the south of this property. From day one of his slumminess, they have had to deal with dirt from 2515 3rd spilling over into their yard, ruining their garden and fence. In response to THAT issue, Amro reportedly said...

...the fence is actually HIS fence, so it doesn't matter if it's bent out of shape. (Even if this is true, it does nothing to alleviate the grading issue.)

The organizer also noted large panes of broken glass strewn throughout the premises, but upon my inspection, I did not see them. As one can see from the laundry list of special assessments, this is one of the few times Amro has cleaned up his own mess.

The photos above also show that he's ripped off the front porch and used three colors of siding that don't quite match.

Once again, this blog wishes to remind readers that the area is zoned for a maximum of two residential units, and the anticipated finished square footage indicates a use of three or more units upon completion.

SOUND THE ALARM! MR. SLUMMY IS BACK TO WORK!

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

As I was leaving town on Friday, I noticed a ladder up against the side of the house at 2515 3rd St N. I made a mental note to call 311 about it, but that slipped my mind until today. Clearly Mohammed Amro of Amro's Properties Inc., or as we call him on JNS, "Mr. Slummy," is back to work.

Back to work? How could THAT be? Last year, at a Heart of the City picnic, NoMi residents noted five bathtubs visible inside the property. After we called that in to 311 and CM Hofstede, we were told that a stop work order had been issued until Amro presents plans that are in compliance with the R2-B (two-unit residential) zoning requirements for the property.

But yet, when I called 311 TODAY...

...I was told that no such orders existed. According to this 311 operator, either the stop work order had never been issued, or the property owner met the criteria for being able to start work again.

If Amro does indeed have permission to do this work, then where are the plans? The first picture above shows roof work being done. The second shows ladders both on the exterior and in the interior of the property. The second-to-last shot shows a window that's been installed, and finally, he's cut open one of the bottom windows and once again left his property open to trespass.

A message was left with CM Hofstede's office today. Hawthorne neighbors expect to see either YET ANOTHER stop work order issued against Amro, or the plans that he presumably presented and the city presumably approved showing that this house will be a 2-unit structure.

Mr. Slummy Owes Some Money

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman (with one exception noted below)

Earlier this week, Hawthorne residents had noticed renewed activity over at "Mr. Slummy's" properties - 2515 and 2519 3rd St N. At this point, there doesn't seem to be much happening at 2515 other than pushing some dirt around. Given some unresolved issues and a stop work order at the address, a 311 call was made nonetheless.

Coincidentally, at a recent social gathering among "NoMi Homies," we were theorizing where "Mr. Slummy" (real name: Mohammed Amro, doing business as Amro's Properties) got his money from. After all, the work he's done, while lacking permits and being out of zoning compliance, can't be free. So I went down to Hennepin County to do a little digging--not as much digging as shown above, but digging nonetheless.

Before we get to that, however, I realize that since winning the City Pages best local blog in 2010, we may have some new readers unfamiliar with this story. So to summarize...

...Hawthorne activists such as Dyna Sluyter were posting about Amro's half-demolition of 2515 3rd St N over Easter weekend in 2009. Connie Nompelis posted about this on her blog and she and other Hawthornites contacted me while I was on vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As soon as I got back, I confronted a person I believe was Mr. Amro although I didn't get his name. His work was shut down on Easter Monday, and John blogged about it here. The first picture above is from that day, and the second shot would later become a visual metaphor for Amro's precarious financial situation.

In an interesting historic twist, the first comment on that blog post was an anonymous person who coined the name "Hawthorne Hawkman." I liked the nickname so much I changed my Google profile from "The Mortgage Geek" to what you see now. In this way, Mr. Slummy and the Hawthorne Hawkman are forever intertwined.

A very extensive photo gallery of Mr. Slummy's work can be found on my personal Facebook page.

But even with an initial stop work order, Amro applied for permits and resumed his work. This work included adding six egress windows and building an addition so large that nobody really believed he would comply with the residential two-unit (R2-B) zoning for the area. Those suspicions were confirmed when, at a 2009 Heart of the City picnic, five bathtubs were seen inside the property (which was flagrantly open to trespass, making such observations rather convenient).





We got the property boarded up, though. (photo below taken by John Hoff)



Fast forward to the present day. Work has been largely stopped at 2515 3rd St N, although Amro's white pickup truck is often seen in front of 2519 3rd St N. He owns this property as well, and even though he stripped off the siding and put in ugly windows, it appears as if most everything he's done at 2519 has been up to code, with permits, and in compliance with zoning.

What he HASN'T done, however, is actually PAID some of the people who did the work. Siwek Lumber and Millwork filed a mechanic's lien against 2519 3rd St N in October of last year for the amount of $14,841.06 for unpaid work from 4/4/09 through 10/8/09. The lien is filed against the property and against Mohammed Amro as well as Amro's Properties Inc.

There is also a second lien filed by the same entity for the same reasons at 2515 3rd St N in the amount of $12,216.11. Interestingly, there is no mortgage filed against either property. Amro either purchased with cash, or in some under-the-table way in which the holder of the debt has not filed a lien against the properties. Clearly the work done at both places far exceeds $27,000. So the next question is this: did Mr. Slummy pay for that work out of pocket, or does he owe more money in ways that haven't surfaced yet?

And speaking of surfaces, there is still an unresolved issue. Amro did not remove the mounds of dirt he created when excavating. He merely pushed it around and leveled off both of his properties. The problem with that, as evidenced below, is that the house to the south has had their fence damaged. And every time it rains, dirt washes into their garden. Amro needs to remedy this issue before even more fees pile up.

2515 3rd St N Flagrantly Open to Trespass!

Guest post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

While I was on the road, leaving "Snowmageddon" to visit family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (NOT an improvement in the weather department, by the way) I received a message about Mr. Slummy's house in Hawthorne...

This house - and I use that term loosely at this point - has first floor openings that anyone can just waltz right into. Area residents have seen what they describe as "small children enter[ing] the building through the unsecured openings."

The family living next door to 2515 has had numerous concerns regarding this property from the very beginning. An eight-foot hole covering an entire backyard was left with no silt fence and no protective measures to keep kids from falling in. The city did act quickly in this regard, but shouldn't have had to even lift a finger to get Mohammed Amro to apply at least the simplest regard for the lives and safety of children in the neighborhood.

The mounds of dirt ruined the fence separating the two properties, and reportedly Mr. Slummy even tried to bully the family into tearing down the fence entirely (despite the fact that these kind folks are renters and not owners). The dirt excavated from 2515 was mostly spread around on that site, leading to a 2-6 inch difference in the height of his yard in comparison to the neighbors'. They had a garden along the fence and that sudden change in levels, separated only by a chain-link fence, causes the dirt to seep across into the other yard every time it rains.

Furthermore, the family has children who play soccer together with kids who live at a house next to 3020 6th St N. So of course they rightly wonder not if but when 2515 will fall victim to arson if it is left unsecured. Frankly, I look at the amount of money Amro would have had to sink in to building this extension (got to be at LEAST $20,000, probably upwards of $60,000) and I think that a post-arson insurance payout is the most financially viable thing Mr. Slummy can accomplish with this structure. I wonder if it is being left open in a deliberate attempt to increase the chance of a fire. Even if the house must be demolished at this point, that needs to happen so that Mr. Slummy gets slapped with the demo cost as a special assessment, not so that an insurance company picks up the tab.

This blog would like to thank the city of Minneapolis and its departments and employees who have done a tremendous job in response so far. The fact that this abomination of housing was stopped in its tracks is a testament to the progress we're making in NoMi. But when his property is this wide open to trespass, it reminds us we still have work to do.