Hard Times For The Kleindl Slumlord Empire?

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

While driving around the EcoVillage area of Hawthorne recently, it seemed all was calm, all was bright in those four square blocks of urban ecotopia...except for one fly in the ointment, one smelly fish ruining the festive feast: the Kleindl slumlord property at 420 30th Ave. N., which had a utility shutoff notice on the door.

The Kleindl empire has had its ups and downs, some of which I've written about here on Johnny Northside Dot Com. It's hard to tell, moment by moment, whether the Kleindl empire is thriving or if the whole shebang is about to collapse like Imperial Rome. City records show the rental license at this property is "in review" as of October 4, 2010. The taxpayer is United Homes, Inc. (which is run by the Kleindls) but the owner is some bank.

One is tempted to "read the tea leaves" from little external clues such as the utility shut-off notice and the "license in review" but the truth is...who knows?

One thing is for sure: the EcoVillage, which used to be (quite arguably) the toughest four blocks in the city, is a massive success story of urban revitalization.

3035 6th Street N. To Be Demolished, New Project Will Feature Geothermal Alternative Energy...

Photo By John Hoff

At a recent meeting of the Hawthorne Housing Committee, Kevin Gulden of PPL announced plans for 3035 6th St. N., a long-vacant house so full of dry rot you can smell it from the front porch. It is often referred to as "the green house" and reportedly used to be quite a hotbed of gang activity.

Gang members would congregate on the steeply sloping front lawn all day, heavily involved in the drug dealing which took place at 3101 6th St. N., the "Apartment Complex of Anarchy." That building was demolished, however. Now crime has dropped to virtually nothing in the Eco Village area in the wake of numerous demolitions of crappy properties, which were heavily clustered in that area.

According to information distributed at the public meeting by Kevin Gulden...

New homes will be built at 3035 6th St. N. (following demolition of the "green house" currently there, rotting away) and at 400 31st. Ave. N., a property which was the subject of controversy and legal wrangling. The new construction will be certified LEED for HOMES GOLD. The appraised value/purchase price will be $140,000.

The new home at 3035 6th St. N. will have geothermal energy which uses the "temperature differential" between the ground and air. No other home in the Eco Village--not even the future "MinniAppleseed House"--has geothermal energy.

During the meeting, PPL was seeking $10,000 in Hawthorne NRP funds per home for a total of $20,000. Additional funding will come from Northside Home Fund, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the Home Depot Foundation. The request for funding was approved by the Housing Committee and so will move forward to the Executive Board.

Slumlord Phil Kleindl Was Packing Serious Heat...

Stock Photo By John Hoff, Former United Homes Property

A police blotter item reported on the Minneapolis Crime Blog caught the attention of some folks in Hawthorne, due to the proximity of the incident to the Eco Village project and also some concern about exactly which slumlord was going around so heavily armed. It turns out the slumlord in question is none other than...

Phil Kleindl of United Homes.

Here is the blotter summary of the incident.

31ST/4TH STREET 09-207505

SQUAD SAW PROBLEM LANDLORD DRIVING IN THE AREA. OFFICER KNEW DRIVER’S STATUS WAS SUSPENDED. DURING STOP, OFFICER SAW A .45MM LASER SIGHTED HANDGUN ON THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT. AP WAS BOOKED. AP AGAIN VOICED HIS HATE.

I might add I've spoken to Phil many times and Phil always made it widely-known he was packing.

Furthermore, as much as I realize Phil broke the law and perhaps needs to be punished, I would say this: back when the Eco Village was a crime-ridden dystopian ground zero, waaaaaay before the recent dramatic drop in crime to nearly ZERO in that area, some of us felt a wee bit safer when Phil was around. Why?

BECAUSE WE ALL KNEW PHIL WAS PACKING HEAT AND DIDN'T SEEM AFRAID TO USE IT.

But the suspended drivers license thing kind of surprises me.