Shame o' the Neighborhood

The ravaged and boarded-up apartment building at 1219 Oronoco continues to disfigure the neighborhood after more than a year.

Earlier this year, the Planning Commission and City Council approved a Special Use Permit (SUP) to permit a permanent reduction in parking. This was necessary since the extensive renovation of the building would normally trigger a requirement for a number of off-street parking spaces for the 11-unit structure. The SUP was even worded to permit it to transfer to any subsequent owners of the property.

Unfortunately, that came to pass more quickly than anyone could imagine. The original partners (as 1219 Oronoco LLC) who talked about turning 1219 Oronoco into affordable housing apparently had a bust-up and the property was sold on July 29 for $1.9 million to Nurcan Bozkurt and Yalcin Bilgehan. No-one seems to know much about the new owners. Bilgehan owns other single-family homes on Aspen Street and Martha Custis Drive in Alexandria.

The new owners have been contacted about the maintenance of the property but have not responded to letters directed to an address on file in D.C.

Whatever happened to that Blighted Properties list that the City used to publish around this time of year? And what will the City do about this eyesore?

Speculators ... grrrrrrrr!