This 87-year-old two-story half-brick house at 1558 Monterey St. near the Lodge and Davison freeways isn’t even attractive to vagrants. Extensively damaged by fire, with missing windows and plaster cascading down the stairway, it contained barely any remnants of the trash or clothing the Abandoned Structure Squad usually discovers. It has, however, succeeded in generating much confusion. The city claimed that the house had been torn down. The Planning and Development Department said that it had been seized by Wayne County for nonpayment of taxes, yet no one seemed to know how long it had been vacant or who the last owner was, and it is not listed for auction as a seized property. Of the five other residences on the street, this is the only abandoned structure, yet its 2002 assessed value of $14,650 is double that of all of the other much nicer inhabited duplexes. 1558 Monterey seems to have slipped into a bureaucratic void.
Editor’s note: If you know of an abandoned home you would like to see featured in this spot, send a photo and pertinent information to News Hits, c/o Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 48226 (or e-mail [email protected]).
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