Tales From the Housing Crisis

The Trump International Hotel & Tower: A $200 Million Feeding Trough for Pigeons

By Eric Barton Fri., Feb. 3 2012 at 9:46 AM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
birdtina.JPG
Photos by Eric Barton
Tina has ocean views as she feeds her pigeons.
​

Tina has been feeding the pigeons on Fort Lauderdale beach long enough to know them by sight. There's the silver one with a white crown who's the alpha male, mating with all the females and getting the best crumbs. There's also the diva, a khaki-colored bird who stays to herself.

"I'll go down the beach and find her later," says Tina, who lives nearby and didn't want her last name used. "She's a picky one."

Cops sometimes give Tina a hard time if she feeds the birds, as she does daily along A1A. Tourists don't like to be crapped on, Tina knows, so she came up with a fine spot to feed her flock. Every morning, she heads to the Trump International Hotel & Tower. The unfinished skyscraper sits on the beach like an obelisk to the great recession.

Developers defaulted on a $139 million loan that they acquired in December 2006, just as

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Donald Trump, Fort Lauderdale Beach, housing prices, pigeons
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

Family Says Landlord Ransacked Their Home While They Were Away for Christmas

By Matthew Hendley Wed., Jan. 4 2012 at 12:42 PM
Categories: Scumbags, Tales From the Housing Crisis
hershewe.jpg
The remnants of the family's home on their front lawn after the "eviction," also known as a burglary.
​While Kevin Hershewe and his family were out of town for Christmas, their landlord "evicted" them from their Lake Worth home.

By "evicted," we mean that the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is investigating it as a burglary.

Hershewe wasn't exactly prepared for how this landlord-tenant dispute would end -- coming home with his family around Christmas to find his house broken into, with what was left of his family's belongings, including the children's toys, strewn across the front lawn.

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Brian Murphy, Eviction, Kevin Hershewe, Lake Worth, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

Census: Young People Still F*cked by Recession

By Victoria Bekiempis Thu., Sep. 22 2011 at 12:42 PM
Categories: Economy, Foreclosure, Tales From the Housing Crisis
CHILDRENS.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ret0dd/
Down and out on mom and dad's sofa.
​Now for some bad news.

U.S. Census Bureau figures released today show that young people are getting especially pummeled by a recession that supposedly ended two years ago.

According to the Associated Press, 20- and 30-somethings face the highest unemployment rates since World War II and are more likely to live in poverty than other demographics -- with one in five young people slipping below livable income levels.

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Tales From the Housing Crisis

Cops Go to Serve Eviction Notice, Shoot the Guy Living There Instead

By Matthew Hendley Fri., Jul. 15 2011 at 4:55 PM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
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​It's all fun and games serving an eviction notice until the cops end up shooting the guy who lives there.

The Broward Sheriff's Office was attempting to evict a man from a condo in Pembroke Pines this morning, that is, before police say he set the place on fire.

Pembroke Pines police and fire department personnel showed up to the scene, but in the meantime, a yet-unidentified cop shot the guy.

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Broward Sheriff's Office, Eviction, Shooting
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

Home Sales History Goes From $36,500, to $3.3 million, and Then Slowly Back Down Again

By Eric Barton Mon., Mar. 28 2011 at 10:25 AM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
To document the depth of the housing crisis, New Times is profiling some of South Florida's forgotten homes.

1 S Gordon Road from the street.JPG
Photos by Eric Barton
​

Location: In Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Isles neighborhood. This home sits at the end of a peninsula, with beautiful canal views toward Victoria Park. With four bedrooms and more than 4,100 square feet, it's a behemoth of a home to sit vacant.

How it ended up empty: Realtor John Scalia said he isn't sure, but a neighbor told him the home had been owned by a billionaire who left it to his wife. She let the property

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housing crisis, realtors, Tales From the Housing Crisis
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

Foundations of a Planned Development Lie Fallow in Victoria Park

By Stefan Kamph Tue., Mar. 1 2011 at 8:25 AM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
To document the depth of the housing crisis, New Times is profiling some of South Florida's forgotten homes.

victoria-green-3.jpg
​
Location: A half-block of unfinished cinder-block foundations -- for 24 unbuilt homes -- stretches along NE 16th Avenue from Eighth to Ninth streets in Fort Lauderdale, a block south of More »

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construction, Housing crisis, Victoria Park
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

Two Townhomes Wait for a Brave Builder

By Eric Barton Mon., Feb. 28 2011 at 5:56 AM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
610 NE 6th St 2.JPG
Photos by Eric Barton
​To document the depth of the housing crisis, New Times is profiling some of South Florida's forgotten homes.

Location: These two townhomes sit at the center of Fort Lauderdale's Victoria Park neighborhood, at the corner of NE Sixth Avenue and NE Sixth Street.

Time abandoned: Work ceased three years ago.

State of disrepair: Construction appears to have stopped at the cinder blocks. Electrical wires were fashioned to the utility pole, but with nothing to attach

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Fort Lauderedale, Tales From the Housing Crisis, Victoria Park
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

A Halfway-Built House in Lake Worth

By Nicole Danna Fri., Feb. 25 2011 at 1:31 PM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
Thumbnail image for House.jpg
Nicole Danna
​To document the depth of the housing crisis, New Times is profiling some of South Florida's forgotten homes.

Location: A corner lot on one of the quiet residential streets of Lake Worth, just blocks from downtown Lake Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Time abandoned: Unknown. Owner Mark Szafaryn apparently began work on 1102 S. N St. shortly after he bought it for $75,000 in late 2003.

State of disrepair: One-half of this abandoned house is testament to its original state -- what was once a white stucco, 1,185-square-foot, single-family 
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housing crisis, Lake Worth, Tales From the Housing Crisis
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Tales From the Housing Crisis

A Victoria Park Spiral Staircase to Nowhere

By Eric Barton Tue., Feb. 22 2011 at 4:34 PM
Categories: Tales From the Housing Crisis
1608 E. Broward Blvd.JPG
Photos by Eric Barton
​

To document the depth of the housing crisis, New Times is profiling some of South Florida's forgotten homes.

Location: At the east end of Broward Boulevard, just west of when it becomes Victoria Park Road, in the tony Colee Hammock neighborhood.

Time abandoned: Unknown. Inchian Properties LLC, bought the land in 2005, at the

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Broward Boulevard, Colee Hammock, Housing crisis, Tales From the Housing Crisis, Victoria Park
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