After years of watching a Wroxton Street house fall into disrepair, West U residents may soon see a vacant house turn into a home.
City Council was prepared to discuss matters related to substandard and non-compliant structures during its Monday night meeting after receiving many complaints about property at 2932 Wroxton.
The house, which appears to be vacant, has boards covering the windows and is need of several repairs.
Council had planned to discuss what they could do about the Wroxton Street property and other homes in the city that fall into disrepair.
“I think we need to look at this broader,” Councilmember Steven Segal said.
David Winks, a Wroxton Street resident who has lived in West U since 2007, addressed council about the condition of the home.
He said believed the property at 2932 Wroxton has been vacant since the 90s and hasn’t had electricity for the last six years.
Winks wanted to know what the city could do about the home since the owner did not appear to be taking care of it.
After Winks made his comments to council, the owner of the property came forward to speak to council.
“I am aware of the condition of the property,” Jim Ely, owner of 2932 Wroxton said. “It has been vacant.”
Council did not seem to know that Ely was going to be present at the meeting and asked him how long the home has been vacant.
Ely said he could not recall the last time the home had been occupied and that he held onto it as an investment.
Ely said the issues with the house are being addressed and he has been issued a violation.
The house was found to have 16 violations, West U Chief Building Official John Brown said.
To view the list of violations, click here.
Brown said the detached garage and walls are not in good repair, steel pipes need to be painted and the exterior of the house is not well maintained in good repair.
“Nobody’s lived there and taken care of it,” Brown told InstantNewsWestU. “It needs to be lived in; it needs to be fixed up.”
Ely said he is currently in the process of selling the house and that it is in escrow and should be closing this week.
Ely’s potential buyer, Vernon Tyger, a Houston resident, was also at the meeting and said he plans on living in the house.
Tyger said the water is currently on at the house, but the power if off at the switch.
He said the house was inspected and he intends to take out the sheet rock and replace the windows and doors, among other things.
Tyger said he was drawn to the architecture of the house and hopes to close on it in the next 30 days.
“If I lived two doors down I’d be mad as hell,” Councilmember George Boehme said. “The boarded up windows are unsightly.”
Segal said if the deal falls through the owner should be required to make the changes to the house.
Carol Waisanen says
This is a good lesson for a lot of communities dealing with such problems.
Good reporting, Sara!
“He said believed the property at 2932 Wroxton has been vacant since the 90s and hasn’t had electricity for the last six years.”
This is just now an issue??
Anne Zalbowitz says
Finally somebody is NOW doing something about it! And Council members are listening! The neighborhood needs active new residents like Winks to take and stand and do something rather than accepting the status quo! Thanks for speaking up for the neighborhood and doing something proactive to change this unsightly corner lot!
Thanks Sara for reporting this.
It is good to see the city council express support for the concerns of existing residents who work to maintain the quality of life in West U, in lieu of non-resident investors angling to maximize their gain from afar.
I also find it hysterical that the owner could not recall when the home was last occupied…that pretty much says it all.
Lucia Khurana says
I salute my neighbor David, who stood up and did something about this. I also live in the same block and when I inquired about this to neighbors, all of them had the same answer: many people tried invane to buy the house, but they could not do it since it was in the middle of some legal dispute. I got scared after IKE when I saw the fence coming down and started thinking that it may attract some dangerous activties, besides being unsafe.
I pays off to make yourslef heard! Thans David and thanks West U concilmembers.
Lucia
RichardinBellaire says
Although we are in Bellaire I subscribe to West University related media out of deep respect for the proactive manner that community and its officials take to protect property values and quality of life. The reporting of this seemingly obscure issue was on point. The exposure older communities such as West University and Bellaire have to speculative real estate investors warrants continuous monitoring on neighborhoods by both Building Standards Commissions and neighbors. A problematic property was identified in Bellaire in October,2009 but required over eight months to be razed due to legal notification and hearing requirements. It would be useful to know why did it so long to address the subject issue.
Fawaz Hashmi says
This house has been vacant probably since the 80’s.
When we moved to West U in 1993 it was empty and had been vacant according to other residents since the 80’s.
In fact, we tried to inquire about buying it around the late 90’s but never got a call back.
It is a cute house on a great street - glad to see that the city council was able to get someone to take responsibility. Kudos!