City Does Emergency Demolition Of Commercial Building
The city has avoided taking ownership of property for more than a decade.
Demolition of 3613-3615 W. Burleigh St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A long-vacant building on W. Burleigh Street is no more.
The city’s in-house demolition crew made quick work Wednesday morning of the one-story commercial building at 3613-3615 W. Burleigh St.
A Department of Neighborhood Services inspector had flagged the 3,420-square-foot structure as in need of a quick demolition.
“The demolition of this property was expedited when inspections revealed structural failings that made the property a public safety hazard. We are appreciative of our colleagues at the Department of Public Works, who conducted the demolition. Placing this property in an external contractor bid package would have added weeks to the demolition timeline, which potentially could have jeopardized public safety,” said a DNS spokesperson.
The property is privately owned, at least for now.
The cost of demolition will be placed on the property tax bill. But the property’s taxes, according to the Treasurer’s Office, have been unpaid since at least 2011. The current balance exceeds $232,000. The property, prior to demolition, was assessed for $106,700.
City assessment records list Darnell Mungon as the property owner since 1995, but an obituary indicates Mungon died in 2007. A son, Darnell Mungon, Jr., continues to live in Milwaukee and assessment records and DNS records indicate notices have been mailed to an address that court records indicate Mungon Jr. lived at approximately a decade ago. Court records indicate he has since moved. A lengthy list of violations and inspections don’t indicate any contact with the property owner.
The fact that the property went more than three years with an unpaid tax bill and no foreclosure action can be explained by its history and environmental condition. It appears on the city’s Do Not Acquire (DNA) list of tax delinquent brownfields. To avoid creating a potentially costly cleanup liability, the city will not acquire the approximately 150 properties on the list unless a buyer comes forward.
As a result, the property could sit as a vacant lot without a real owner for many more years. That could be an improvement for neighbors, who had submitted complaints to the city of an unsecured vacant building harboring rodents and other pests.
Built in 1924, the building had a blade sign, now long gone, advertising the building’s prior use: Arnold Neuhaus Player Pianos. Neuhaus, according to a 2006 profile, opened his store in the building in 1965 and moved out 20 years later. The nine-fingered “Piano Doctor” died in 2016 at the age of 92. The business lives on in West Allis as Neuhaus Piano Workshop. Google Street View indicates the sign at the Burleigh Street building was still legible as recently as 2009, at least 24 years after its run concluded.
Historic newspaper advertisements indicate the Burleigh Street building was home to Automatic Washer Specialists, Bill & Jack’s Quality Motor and Transmission Exchange, heating contractor Lonn Bros. and Myrtle Jane Beauty Salon prior to becoming a piano emporium. “Dry Cleaner, Sheet Metal, Auto Repair,” says the DNA list’s reasons to avoid acquisition.
Inspector Photos
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