The remains of one of six houses being demolished on Ann Arbor's North Main Street this week.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
The long-awaited demolition of a row of boarded-up houses along North Main Street in Ann Arbor began in earnest Wednesday morning.
Three of the six houses facing the wrecking ball were demolished by noon, and workers onsite from Den-Man Contractors said all six houses would be down by the week's end.
Walking by on his way to a Rotary meeting, Ann Arbor resident Don Faber stopped to literally applaud the crew doing the demolition work.
Three homeless people, at left, told the demolition workers at right about memories of squatting in the houses.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Not everyone is happy to see the homes coming down, though. Three homeless people who watched from the sidewalk on Wednesday shared memories of squatting in the houses.
"I used to sleep in the one on the end. It was called the Dirty Squat," said a man who identified himself only as Pig Pen, a self-described train hopper and hitchhiker who's originally from Ypsilanti but has traveled all over.
He said they sleep out in the woods now, but at different points each of them stayed in the houses being demolished.
"That was the one I stayed in last year," said a man who goes by the name Pooh, pointing to another of the houses. "I met my fiancee and we stayed in that one for two weeks."
Pooh, who is originally from Denton, Texas, said he travels all over the country and he's been coming to Ann Arbor since 2003. He said he's sad to see the houses go.
"All of these houses are perfectly good houses," he said. "People could renovate them."
The city is taking action to demolish the blighted structures, which the city deemed dangerous, following the failure of the Near North affordable housing development.
The houses, which originally were expected to be demolished by developers to make way for a 39-unit apartment project, were allowed to fall into a state of disrepair over the years while the developers tried to line up financing for a project that isn't going forward now. The project no longer qualified for needed federal funding after flood map revisions extended the floodplain into the property.
The city has stepped in to clean up what many consider an eyesore along a prominent gateway into Ann Arbor.
The city secured state grant funding for the demolition last year, but lost the money after it wasn't spent by a March 15 deadline.
The new funding source is a dangerous building fund — also known as the city's "blight fund" — that was established by the City Council in February 2012. The city will try to recoup its costs by placing liens on the properties for the cost of the demolition.
The scene on North Main as it looked on Wednesday morning.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Karma, a Lansing native who was with Pig Pen and Pooh, said she was assaulted in one of the houses and she's not sad to see that one go, but she lamented the loss of the rest.
"My personal opinion is they should really keep these," she said. "If they're condemned and about to collapse like the one on the end is, yeah, probably tear them down. But if they're perfectly good and could be fixed up to live in, they should donate it to the city of Ann Arbor."
Karma said it seems like the options for homeless people in Ann Arbor who prefer not to stay at the Delonis Center homeless shelter are becoming fewer.
"I don't know what they're doing right now, but it seems like they're trying to clean up the whole town and they're clearing people out from underneath Fuller bridge, all the parks, and they're getting rid of every place for the people who have no place to go," she said. "It's a problem."
Mayor John Hieftje and Police Chief John Seto could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.
Faber said he hopes to see "decent housing" built on the site — something that would enhance the North Main corridor.
"This is kind of my neighborhood and I want to see the best for it, and I want to see the best for the city," he said.
The property where the houses are being demolished is owned in partnership between Three Oaks Group and Avalon Housing. There are eight boarded-up homes in total, but only six were declared dangerous buildings by the city. The two southernmost houses will remain.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.