Mayor White is anxious to pick up the pace on demolishing abandoned buildings, according to the Houston Business Journal:
Mayor Bill White said Wednesday he wants to ramp up the city’s efforts in demolishing abandoned buildings to 100 buildings per month.
The city demolished a total of 700 buildings in 2004, a number White says is unacceptably low. So far in 2005, the city has demolished 225 buildings, 500 behind its goal for the fiscal year that ends in July.
“There is a new sense of urgency and priority concerning the demolition of abandoned buildings,” White told Houston City Councilmembers during a special hearing March 16 on the city’s future demolition strategy.
[snip]
There are about 2,000 buildings in the city that are beyond repair, according to Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Lumpkin.
HPD is currently building a database of all buildings identified for demolition. That project is expected to be completed in June, according to Lumpkin.
There is no talk in this article of tax-delinquent properties, so I assume these are strictly abandoned buildings, that are beyond repair. I do hope someone in local media is keeping an eye on what is being demolished, since the mayor has also made it clear (in his State of the City address) that he’s going after tax-delinquent properties, in order to facilitate more affordable housing. A watchdog media helps keep people — and governments — honest, you know.
