These 14 buildings have been declared unsafe and are set for demolition by Topeka’s city government – The Topeka Capital-Journal

The former White Lakes Mall spent years falling apart.

Still, Topeka city officials didn'tseek to have it demolished.

They waitedin hopes it would berehabilitated, saysMike Haugen,director of the city's property maintenance unit.

"We would much rather see properties be rehabbed and remainviable," he said.

Then fire seriously damaged the former mall 13 months ago, at a time of rising public support for demolishing it.

The city's mayor and council voted last year to raze the building, and the city administration is "working through the process" to have that done this year, said Gretchen Spiker, the city's communications director.

More: White Lakes Mall was to be destroyed in 2021. Here's why not, how arson case was resolved.

The city of Topeka currently plans to raze 14 buildings in coming months.

Built in 1964, the former mallat 3600 S.W. Topeka Blvd. is the second youngest of the 14 buildings setto be razedby Topeka's city government.

Spiker recentlyprovideda list of those buildings in response to a request from The Capital-Journal.

That list evolves constantlyand sometimes increases by as many as four properties in one week, Haugen said.

In addition to the White Lakes Mall, the list currently contains the following:

The house at 828 N.E. Monroe, which Shawnee County Appraiser's Office records say was built in 1887.

The building at 1016 S.W. 17th, which appraiser's office records say was constructed in 1890.

The fire-damaged house at 218 S.W. Topeka Blvd., built in 1900.

The fire-damaged house at 1600 S.W. Clay, built in 1910.

The house at 1418 S.E. Lake, built in 1920.

The house at 415 N.E. Strait Ave., built in 1930.

The house at 611 S.E. Market, built in 1930.

The house at 1216 N.W. Harrison, built in 1932.

The house at 635 N.E. Poplar, built in 1940.

The house at 1900 S.E. Michigan Ave., built in 1951.

The fire-damagedhouse at 1008 S.E. Powell, built in 1972.

The fire-damaged house at 2619 S.W. Murrow Court, for which the date of construction is not listed on the website of the appraiser's office.

And the vacant former business building at 911 N. Kansas Ave., built in 1920.

More: Developers want to turn NOTO building with collapsing roof, floors into rock-climbing site

Its owners hopeto savethe building at 911 N. Kansas Ave., where the roof has fallen in and its second and third floors are collapsing.

But the Topeka City Council tentatively plans Feb. 8 to consider authorizing the demolition of that structure, which is estimated to cost$200,000, according to a document in the packet for the agenda posted online Friday on the city's website.

The mayor and council plan to discuss but not act on the matter at their meeting Feb. 1, according to that document.

More: Next-door neighbor concerned about building falling apart in Topeka's NOTO district

One reason the building at 911 N. Kansas Ave. hasn't been torn down is because of thehigh cost of doing that, Haugen said.

The city generally budgets $200,000 to $400,000 annually to razebuildings, he said.

Haugen said he seeks to be a good steward of those funds.

They tend torunout quickly, considering the average cost to raze a house is $15,000 to $25,000, and sometimes higher, he said.

The White Lakes Mall and the buildings at911 N. Kansas Ave. and 1016 S.W. 17th are consequently "budget busters" expected tocost considerably more than averageto demolish, Haugen said.

More: Fire at Topeka's former White Lakes Mall rekindles memories

The investigations that lead todemolitions are conducted by the city's special structures unit, which was created in 2016 to address properties deemed unsafe, Spiker said.

The primary goal of the unit is to encourage owners to rehabilitatethe properties, make them safeor remove them through demolition, she said.

"In each of these cases, the owner has an opportunity to bring forth a plan for repair, and if the plan is viable, the special structures unit will work with them to accomplish the goal," Spikersaid. "Ultimately, a hearing officer determines if the demolition process should proceed, or if the owner has presented a viable plan to rehab the property."

The special structures unit includes positions for nine inspectors and one supervisor, with five of those currently being vacant, Haugen said.

He encouraged anyone interested in applying to fill one of the vacancies to go to the city's website. Starting pay is $19.31 for a property inspector I and $20.49 for a property inspector II, that site says.

The city last year demolished 19 properties,Spiker said.

The process to raze a house takes six months to a year, on average, Haugen said.

As of Dec. 31, 2021, the special structures unit had inspected a total of 1,207 properties for potentially unsafe conditions, Spikersaid.

She said 179 of those properties were rehabilitated by their owner, 162 demolished by their owner and 142 demolished by the city.

Of the other cases, no violation was found in 306 andthe case was closed for various reasons in 364, while 54 cases remain open, Spiker said.

The owners of properties for which the special structures unit pursues demolition sometimes save those buildings by successfully rehabilitating them, Haugen said.

Locations where that's happened include710 SW. Polk, 1117 S.W. Saline, 1908 S.W. Van Buren and 5811 S.W. 20th, he said.

Haugen voiced concern that publiclysharing the list of houses slated for demolition might bring an increased potential for fires and criminal activity to occur at those addresses, due to the vulnerability of the structures.

Houses on the demolition list tend to be vacant, with homeless people often spending the night there and sometimessetting fires, he said.

More: Four houses have burned within 250 feet of Topekan's home. Area looks like a 'war zone.'

Severe fire damage is already present at several houses on the current list, Haugen said.

For the city to convince an administrative hearing officer to have a house demolished, he said, the city must demonstrate thatthe cost to repair the propertyamounts to more than 30% of its value, at which point the law considers the propertyto be unsafe.

But any house that's been destroyed by fire has already exceeded that standard by being declared a total loss, Haugensaid.

He encouraged the public to call 785-368-3161 or to use the city's SeeClickFix application to report to the city any potential violations of itsproperty maintenance codes.

Visit link:
These 14 buildings have been declared unsafe and are set for demolition by Topeka's city government - The Topeka Capital-Journal