Vacant Columbia house has welcomed crime and vagrants, residents say. Now, neighborhood is suing
For a long time, a happy, aging couple lived in the large yellow house on the corner of Lincoln and Abbeville streets, just north of Elmwood Avenue, as resident Cathy Brookshire recalls.
The couple moved out of state a few years ago and, in 2022, sold the house to Kostas Construction LLC, according to county property records. They had owned the home since 1998.
It took only a few months for the house, built in 1920, to fall into complete disrepair.
Windows have been broken and boarded up, then the boards removed. The front and back doors have been unlocked, and strangers often wander in and out of the house, squatting in the vacant structure. Squirrels run through holes in the roof. An unknown creature once lay dead in the yard for weeks.
Now, the Elmwood Park Neighborhood Association and local attorney Tyler Bailey say they’ve had enough.
Bailey filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the home’s current and former owners, asking that the property be renovated or that a judge assign somebody else to take care of it.
“We watch as dozens of children walk to (Logan Elementary School) every morning with their families, and we’ve got this great park across the street (that) people come from all across the city to enjoy, and then this has been a constant public health and safety hazard,” said John Wilkinson, Elmwood Park Neighborhood Association president.
On multiple occasions, residents have called the police to report break-ins at the house, said Brookshire who lives across the street from the now-dilapidated house. The lawsuit also notes examples of police responding to problems at the vacant home.
The lawsuit aims to have the house deemed a public nuisance and asks a judge to hold the homeowners accountable for any future code violations.
Kostas Construction LLC, which is tied to a registered agent with a Lexington address, owned the home for less than a year — purchasing the property March 24, 2022, for $200,000, and selling it February 3, 2023, for $220,000.
Rhinehart Investments LLC, a company tied to an Albuquerque, New Mexico, address, is the current owner of the Lincoln Street house. The State was unable to reach either entity before publication.
Bailey, who also lives in Elmwood Park, names both Kostas Construction and Rhineheart Investments as defendants in the suit, calling both parties “too undercapitalized to adequately address the blight of their vacant investment property and … not motivated to invest the necessary capital to cause the property to be occupied.”
The suit adds that the “willful neglect” of the property has invited criminal activity and police action, while also degrading the quality of life and potentially home values of neighbors.
One house falling into extreme disrepair could have a ripple effect, residents fear. Bailey said taking action on the Lincoln Street property will help ensure the problem doesn’t spread.
“This is one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the city, and we’re trying to keep it that way,” Bailey said.
If the owner isn’t willing to rehabilitate the property, the neighborhood is asking the court to assign another party to do it.
The Elmwood Park neighborhood, just north of downtown, has deep roots in Columbia history. The neighborhood came into being in the early 1900s, when former fair ground and race track land was sold to the public during an auction in 1905. Many homes in the neighborhood are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sarah Ellis contributed to this article.
