Photo and blog post by John HoffWhile 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.
