A Lone Eyesore Kindles Anger in Brightwood

When Kamili Anderson looks around her neighborhood, she likes what she sees -- except for one big blot on the landscape.

That's the long-vacant and boarded-up apartment building at 6425 14th St. NW.

For years Anderson, president of the Brightwood Community Association, has urged government officials to do something about the building. But it remains a scar on an otherwise pretty neighborhood.

"I have called every telephone number there is, including the D.C. hotline. I've complained about the excess trash, the grass being too high, everything," Anderson said.

Residents' discontent in the middle-class neighborhood has grown over the two decades that the property has been abandoned. Graffiti mar the boards over the windows, and neighbors fear that the five-story building might be a fire hazard.

"It seems like an incredible waste of a building that could be put to good use, especially if it can be inhabitable by others," Anderson said. "It's like an unattended eyesore to the neighborhood. The fact that it's there is a real problem. If you look at the rest of our neighborhood, even in the most modest places, people are going all-out to beautify their surroundings, and then there's this place that is just a drag on everything. I want to see that property either redeveloped or demolished."

Neighbors and D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) say that the background of the owner, Vincent L. Abell, should disqualify him from ownership.

Abell was convicted for his role in a huge real estate fraud in the 1980s, and in 2004 he was sued in D.C. Superior Court for allegedly tricking a senior citizen and two other D.C. homeowners out of the deeds to their homes.

"We in D.C. have a responsible development community," said Graham, who is chairman of the council's Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. "When you get guys like this with criminal convictions who are just out to make a buck . . . you have to be tough. The best solution is to take steps to put these people out of business."

Marta Bertola, Abell's lawyer, said in an e-mail that "Mr. Abell is not currently charged."

Her statement blamed the D.C. government for the building's condition.

Bertola said the city took over the property after a previous owner fell behind on property taxes. During the period that city officials were responsible for the building, "the District of Columbia ran the building into the ground and rendered it uninhabitable," her statement said.