Nataley Davis | staff writer

Richard Lesikiewicz and Steve Shriber moved into homes in Pittsburgh’s Arlington neighborhood in the early 1990s.

Lesikiewicz, who is a contractor and Shriber, who owns a technology company, joined forces to become co-owners of Greenvue Development. They now own several properties throughout the south of the city.

Lesikiewicz said that about a year ago, one of their tenants in an Arligton property complained about hearing animals in the attic.

The business owners said that they soon came to the conclusion that raccoons were staying in a condemned house next door, and dug their way into the pair’s rental property.

The abandoned house has been condemned by the city for two or three years, Lesikiewicz said.

Shriber said that the “eyesore” property affects their ability to do business.

“It’s been a nightmare for us because we own that whole strip there … Someone comes by and they want to rent from us or buy one of our properties and they look at that and they’re like, ‘well, I don’t think so,’” Shriber said.

Although that house in Arlington is not set to be demolished, Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor has plans to solve the issue of abandoned houses like it throughout the Hilltop neighborhoods.

On Feb. 17, O’Connor announced a “Demolition Blitz,” which is an initiative that will take place over the next several weeks. The city will complete demolitions on 23 properties in Knoxville, Beltzhoover, St. Clair and Arlington to address blight, according to a news release.

Blight is a physical space or structure that has lost its functionality because of poor conditions. It can occur for one of many reasons including death of the owner or decades of neglect, said Michael Glass, director of the Urban Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Three demolitions have already been completed and 20 more are scheduled.

All properties that will be demolished have been assessed by the city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections and were “deemed to be in imminent danger or constitute a public safety hazard that could cause serious or life-threatening injury at any time,” according to the news release.

Councilman Bob Charland, who represents the neighborhoods included in the demolition, said that a common misconception about blight initiatives is that just because a house has been condemned does not mean it will be taken down.

“Condemnation is the city saying that this property is no longer safe to occupy and therefore we’ve notified you that this is an unsafe structure to be in — and if you’re in there, it isn’t our liability anymore,” Charland said.

He said that there is a process that occurs before a property gets demolished. The city gives the owner an opportunity to claim the abandoned property, their estate gets notified and the city tries to get new residents to move in.

Charland’s office submitted 40 abandoned houses to the mayor, who then approved 23 to be demolished.

‘There’s not much else you can do’

Glass said that it’s important to not take demolition initiatives too far, but in most cases tearing the houses down is the smartest option economically.

“I’m a little concerned when it comes to the wholesale demolition of former working class neighborhoods, because that is character, and that is our legacy to some extent,” Glass said. 
“I’m sensitive to the loss of that character, but from a cost efficacy perspective, there’s not much else you can do.”

He said that because the materials that were used to build many of the abandoned houses were substandard at the time, it would cost more money to bring them up to a 21st century standard than to simply demolish them.

Cheynne Curry has lived at her home in Arlington for three years next to a condemned property.

She said that having the property in the neighborhood affects the welfare and safety of the community.

“This is the main busy street, so these are the first houses that people are going to see,” Curry said. “The neighborhood’s not a great neighborhood as it is, but those kind of condemned houses, the abandoned house, doesn’t really give it much of a better look.”

Charland said that working to eliminate blight will improve quality of life for Pittsburghers like Curry.

“The hope here is that this will be able to attract more families, but probably more so than attracting new families, trying to just not displace more,” he said. “I think that the bigger point is hopefully, it will curb some of the people who just are sick of it, and slowly move out.”

Nataley Davis can be reached at davisn5@duq.edu