409 31st Ave. N. Meets Backhoe Of Dooooooom!!!!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Tonight at the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council board meeting, I learned from Housing Director Jeff Skrenes that 409 31st Ave. N. was demolished a couple days ago. This house was caught up in the web of fraud spun by Larry Maxwell and Vicki Cox-Maxwell, something this blog wrote about in detail as early as June of 2008, click here, then subsequently blogged about the trial and its aftermath, click here for sample post.

The house at 409 31st Ave. N. was notable for the pile of soggy teddy bears left on the front steps, because somebody who lived there a short while had been killed, though apparently not right there at the house. Two years ago, the house was a frequent target of crackhead squatters and prostitutes (not to make too much of a distinction between the two groups, who are often one and the same) but, for at least the past year and a half, vigorous grassroots efforts by individuals in the Hawthorne Neighborhood made sure the house stayed securely boarded up and graffiti was painted over...whether these were official or unofficial efforts, the point was what needed to be done got done.

The lot where 409 31st Ave. N. sat is part of the visionary Hawthorne Eco Village project and the demolition of the house, though somewhat sad, represents progress in that direction.

Hawthorne Housing Quick Hits

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

I dedicated my weekend to taking pictures of every single Pamiko property this weekend. But on my way out to do that, I stopped by a few places of note in Hawthorne to check on progress. Here's what I found...

First up, 409 31st Ave N appears headed for demolition any day now. The water's been turned off at the street. This property was owned by Vicki Cox-Maxwell, the wife of convicted mortgage fraud felon Larry "Maximum" Maxwell. In what seems like a whole other era at this point, 409 31st was also a very frequent target of squatters breaking into the place. We'll finally see this structure get the fate it unfortunately deserves.

The next two pictures are of 2515 3rd St N. Those concrete blocks weren't there until recently. As far as neighbors are aware, Mr. Slummy has had a stop work order placed on that particular property (but not the adjacent one he owns at 2519). He's been seen doing plenty of work at 2519, but if anyone sees work being done at 2515, let's keep each other informed (and call 311).

The next picture is of a demolished house just off of 25th Ave N and 3rd St N. I don't have an address offhand. The house that was there used to be a beautiful, historic property. It went into foreclosure, fell into disrepair, and was deemed unsalvageable. I agree with the decision to demolish the house once it got to that point, but I lament the fact that it deteriorated at all in the first place.

Finally, the garage at 619 26th Ave N is now boarded as it was open to trespass. The city, and not the owner or Realtor did this, indicating the likelihood that this property will continue to be neglected. Let's hope it doesn't share a fate similar to the lot of the unknown property.

Coming up next, the Pamiko photo tour.