Eyon Biddle’s Rescued Rental
The candidate for alderman lives in Triangle North neighborhood, on a block rescued by investor Yusuf Dahl.
The Biddle home.
Early voting is still underway in the 15th District aldermanic race, and House Confidential, mindful of its civic duty to encourage and inform voters, pays a visit to the home of Eyon Biddle, Sr., who is vying with last week’s honoree Russell Stamper II for the seat formerly held by Willie Hines, Jr., yet another House Confidential honoree.
Although it is relatively new, being constructed in 1998, this home in the Triangle North neighborhood has an interesting backstory that was featured in a WUWM news segment in January 2011, shortly after investor Yusuf Dahl bought the foreclosed single family dwelling just south of W. North Ave. and west of I-43 for $28,500. The home, located in a targeted neighborhood that had seen considerable investment, had declined in value with the recession. The neighborhood, just northwest of downtown and abutting I-43, had more than its share of foreclosed properties, such as this one. Dahl said he had considered moving out of the neighborhood, where he resided since about 2006, but decided instead to become an investor, purchasing and renovating distressed properties. “So I was living here and everything was fine and then all of these foreclosures started coming. And I just seen what was happening. I was coming outside, I was finding drug paraphernalia around my house,” Dahl told reporter LaToya Dennis. He now owns a third of the block.
There seems to be some disagreement, by the way, about the name of this neighborhood. While the city calls it Triangle North, the Zilber Foundation includes it as part of the Lindsay Heights neighborhood, which is how WUWM referred to it. But House Confidential always goes with the city’s designation.
As for Biddle’s home, it has a poured-concrete foundation and a total of 1,568 square feet of living space, equally divided between the first and second floors, and is a conventional late-20th century infill structure common to the formerly vacant blocks of the neighborhood. The city calls it a “2-story Colonial.” It is clad in vinyl and has a distinctive roof, a trademark of Dahl properties. It has 3 bedrooms, one and one-half baths, and has a detached 22 x 20 foot garage in the rear, facing an alley. To the north, a three-story warehouse building is being demolished at a former laundry. The property is assessed at $2,100 for the 4,275 sq. ft. corner lot [$2.03 / s.f.] and $92,200 for the improvements, for a total of $94,300. Taxes are $2,995.90 and are paid on the installment plan.
About Eyon Biddle Sr.
Eyon Biddle Sr. is making his second run for the seat of former Common Council President Willie Hines, Jr., and this time he has a better shot at it than the first, since Hines has left for another job with the city. Biddle’s first attempt came at the expense of a county supervisor position to which he had only recently been elected. The brash move astonished some observers. However, nobody doubts that being a Milwaukee alderman has some advantages over being a county board member. You would get no argument on this matter from Russell Stamper, II, Biddle’s opponent, who is currently a supervisor, and can remain one should he lose.
His rather hyperactive style came in for some ridicule from Bruce Murphy, then serving as editor of Milwaukee Magazine. “I suspect county veterans find this newcomer’s eagerness to share his every view a bit comical at times. Worse, he tends to ridicule or personally attack those who disagree with him,” Murphy wrote. He dubbed a Biddle a master of the “interplanetary insult,” noting Biddle’s attack on County Executive Chris Abele (“extremely out of touch with his constituents. I’m not sure what world he’s living in”) and those who supported creating the new position of county comptroller (“creating another partisan, political position in Milwaukee County government. Really? What planet are they on?”).
You can find Biddle’s explanation of why he is running for alderman on youtube. Biddle and Stamper will participate in the Common Ground Candidate Forum from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23rd at Hopewell Baptist Church, 2375 N. 25th St. The public is invited to attend.
The Rundown
- Location: City of Milwaukee
- Neighborhood: Triangle North
- Subdivision: Vliet’s Addition
- Year Built: 1998
- Style: 2-Story Colonial
- Size: 1,568 total square feet of finished living space, (784 sq. ft. first floor, 784 sq. ft. second floor)
- Fireplaces: 0
- Rec Room: 0
- Taxes: $2,995.90 paid on the installment plan, payments current
- Assessment: Land $2,100 [$2.03 s.f.] Improvements $92,200; Total: $94,300
- Walk Score: 74 out of 100, “Very Walkable.”
- Transit Score: 57 out of 100, “Good Transit.”
- Street Smart Walk Score: 72 out of 100, “Very Walkable”
- Aldermanic District: 15th.
How Milwaukee Is It? The residence is 2 miles from City Hall, where 15th District residents can cast an early vote this week.
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No mention of the firestorm created when Mr. Biddle was recorded at UW-Whitewater ranting to a general education class about white rage and how conservatives are racist, sexist, etc?