Northside Neighbors Alarmed To Catch The Rank Scent Of United Federal Properties Skulking Around Our Houses...

Contributed PDF image, converted to JPEG by JNS blog, blog
post by John Hoff

It was a business card. One little business card, stuck in the frame of a door, with a little note jotted on the back saying something to the effect, hey, call me. 

But that card caused a ripple of alarm in our neighborhood, expressed in a discussion on the red hot North Vent Facebook forum.

United Federal Properties, the name of an LLC associated with Robert Serr (click here for previous JNS blog coverage) does not have a good name on the North Side. And because of that one business card, suddenly, in the virtual community organized on North Talk, people are asking, "What is United Federal Properties doing" and saying stuff like, "God, I sure hope they don't buy any property around me."

What new schemes are being hatched? We don't know, yet, but we have this bogey on our radar.

412 29th Ave. N., Scene Of "Dice Game Murder," Is Owned By Car Wash LLC Of 2928 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis MN 55408

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

It's not clear from reading Matt McKinney's article in the Star Tribune whether the house at 412 29th Ave. N. is actually occupied by any of the individuals involved in the recent murder of Mario D. Combs, which took place out in front of the house. Of course, I've never found Matt McKinney to be a terribly clear writer who manages to hit essential points that can be summarized as Who, What, When, WHERE (stomp stomp) How, and Why.

Looking into the address, one finds it is a rental property owned by "Car Wash, LLC" of 2928 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55408. Then doing a search for THAT address reveals to "smoke and mirrors" pattern common to the slumlord class of North Minneapolis...

The property on Grand Ave. S. is owned by Expanding Estates, LLC of 3575 Tiffany Lane, Shoreview, MN. However, two other LLCs are listed at that address: L & Z Estates, LLC, and Golden Point, LLC. On the address at 2928 Grand Ave. S. an interesting name turns up as the homesteader:

ROBERT SERR.

I've heard this name before, and it's been mentioned on my blog before, click here.

So that's a total of FOUR LLCs which turn up when you look at this one small, very unimpressive house at 412 29th Ave. N. where a man was shot dead in a dispute over a dice game.

My nostrils are very sensitive to the odor of slumlord and right now I've got a snootful. I should add, however: nice view of Farview Park from this property. Too bad the folks who live there have apparently given up on the idea of shoveling the front door for the winter.

I Give You Robert Serr, Of Miami Restaurant Douchebag Fame...

Blog post by John Hoff

It was more than a month ago when somebody contacted me through my blog, telling me some very interesting things about a guy named Robert Serr, who is heavily involved with North Minneapolis real estate through an entity called United Federal Properties LLC. Here is a link to a website, which was turned up by searching a phone number linked to Robert Serr.

http://unitedfederalpropertiesllc.com/For%20Sale.html

The "UK Office" and "US Office" is a nice touch, don't you think? Note that the US office is located in the fictional town of "Minnepolis."

I should point out that both the title of this blog post and the sentence above come, verbatim, from some of expressive emails which have been circulating behind the scenes, discussing Robert Serr and United Federal Properties, and the impact on North Minneapolis...

"Hawthorne Hawkman" Jeff Skrenes--whose eyes light up with delight at the word "spread sheet," it's sick, I tell you--put together a very interesting document with data about the various properties linked to Robert Serr, click here to obtain a copy of that document.

To most people, Robert Serr is best known for his involvement in the "Restaurant Miami," which used to be on Lake Street, and had a Miami Vice theme. The attitude of folks revitalizing Lake Street (God bless 'em!) appeared to be "Good riddance" when it came to Restaurant Miami going away.

Expect more coverage in the future here on Johnny Northside Dot Com about Robert Serr. Hopefully, this coverage will be pushed forward mostly by the Hawthorne Hawkman, who is much better at the spreadsheet...thing. However, in behind-the-blog discussions, the Robert Serr conversation has reached a kind of critical mass (plus we apparently ironed up some data space issues with the PDF support site) and suddenly, on Memorial Day 2010, it was time to let readers know:

Another dubious real estate baron has hit the radar of Johnny Northside Dot Com. Pull up a lawn chair to your laptop, and watch the fun and fireworks as things develop.

To any and all public officials trying to help turn around North Minneapolis: please, examine the data on the spreadsheet. Something very fishy appears to be happening here.

It could be "legitimate flipping," but does it SMELL that way?

Problems Arising on 300 Block of 25th Ave N

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Several weeks ago, I called 311 when I noticed three very awkwardly-parked vehicles in the lot at 314 25th Ave N. It looked to me like the cars were ditched there, possibly after being stolen for a joyride. Click on the pictures above, and the license plates are visible for each of the 4 cars in the photos, in case any of them have been reported as stolen. And clearly they were not parked on any kind of approved surface. I wasn't sure how long the issue would go before being resolved, since cars parked inappropriately on a property owned by an investment firm might not seem like a big deal.

(However, upon closer investigation of THAT matter, "Global Investment Mngrs Inc" is located at...wait for it...314 25th Ave N! The vacant lot with three cars parked there. There was no indication that a global investment management company was being operated out of any of the three vehicles shown above.)

Really, we ought to require the owner of a VACANT LOT to list some other address when they buy a property. Just sayin'.

But even these facts only came to light because a concerned resident sent me an email about...

an "emerging problem property in the area," at 322 25th Ave N. It was recently bought by a Robert Serr, and this resident listed 3240 Sheridan Ave N as an address associated with Mr. Serr. Reportedly, 322 25th Ave N has become worse in terms of its condition, the condition of the surrounding area, and the behavior of tenants since Mr. Serr's acquisition. It is unknown if the cars parked at 314 25th are associated with Mr. Serr or his tenants.

But 3240 Sheridan Ave N rang a bell, so I checked a database I have of properties owned by slumlords and properties that were part of mortgage fraud. (yes, I have my own database for this sort of thing. I am the Hawkman.) 3240 Sheridan Ave N is a former TJ Waconia property and its owner is listed on the city website as "Car Wash Llc." Car Wash Llc also owns at least one other TJ Waconia house at 3742 Aldrich Ave N. I drove by each place, but the houses were pretty nondescript.

Robert Serr was also apparently the owner of a Miami Vice/Scarface-themed restaurant on Lake Street. Perhaps the business failed because Serr wasn't familiar enough with Scarface mythos to create a representative environment. Somehow I doubt the fellows I saw on the block would have the same problem.

Getting out of the car, taking photos, and leaving took less than two minutes, start to finish. In that time, a white Chrysler 300C and a blue Cadillac of a similar style pulled up across the street from each other and in front of 322 25th Ave N. A man in a mid-length white fur coat got out of the Chrysler and entered the back seat of the Cadillac. Moments later, he got out of the Cadillac, returned to his vehicle, and they both drove away. Tony Montana would be proud.

Once again, it's not clear YET whether this very apparent drug deal had anything to do with the specific property or person listed above. But it's clear the block is a problem. The Hawthorne resident who emailed me also indicated that gunshots have been heard in the area, a group of young males is hanging out on 4th and 25th (again), and arguing and other loud noises have been reported by residents.

We need to get a handle on this NOW. Usually things quiet down in February, so I shudder to think of what this place will be like in the summertime if nothing is done soon. I made several trips to the block today, and I urge others to do the same thing. Call 311 and 911 as needed. Let's cut this kind of behavior off as quickly as possible.