A couple of weeks ago I noticed some work at the Bacon Funeral Home, the cement block construction site at 3447 14th Street NW. The building has been a shell for years, with no progress at all. The only work that has been done was to secure it against vagrants and to finish a roof, both ordered by the city because it’s abandoned.
The company’s plan for years has been to complete that building as their new facility, then turn the existing one next door into a parking lot. Of course, very little has changed as the building sat abandoned, aside from that city-ordered work. But now there’s finally some news.
Last week I got an update from Councilman Jim Graham, who forwarded emails from Todd Starke with DCRA, which manages sites like this. The next hearing is to see if they are making progress on the building.
…I contacted a Mr. Torrance Colvin of The Colvin Law Firm. According to Mr. Colvin the property in question is currently under active construction. He also stated they have all of the proper permits which were signed off on in the beginning of June. I informed him of the next hearing date which is September 10th. He stated he or someone from the property will be there on that date with the building permits and evidence of progression.
At this time, we have no updated information for this property. We can only wait until the 10th of September. An inspection will be conducted a few days prior to the meeting. Any violations the inspector notices, he will site. A 30 day re inspection will be conducted. Once the re inspection is conducted, if the violations are not abated at that time and/or there is no evidence of work being performed to correct the violations, a Notice of Infraction will be issued. This will place a lien on the property owner’s taxes.
We’ll see what happens, but this seems like a tiny glimmer of hope to make this longtime eyesore into something productive.
