What’s the Deal With: 67/69 Underhill Ave
EXCLUSIVE! Quig investigates: "At first glance, 69 Underhill looks like a example of cardboard, spit & hope urban renewal. Faux windows hiding the gap-toothed spaces where glass should be. Where once this building and its sister (67) were the typical example of the post-Robert Moses, present-crack urban blight, they are now standing out for their as-yet unrealized potential."
"According to ACRIS, these buildings are owned by the same person, Hubert S. Drew. If you Google that name, a person (maybe not him) comes up as a board member of Community Board 9."
"In any other market, excuses could be made about how money can not be found to renovate or sell this property. Seeing that Drew bought these properties in in 1983 (probably for the price of a Delorean) he could pony up at least a can of paint to cover up the graffiti."
"My guess is that he’s waiting for the right developer to come along at the right time with the right truckload of money. In the meantime, we are treated to these buildings as a canvas for the local graffiti artists."