Abandoned block now in demand

No one lived on the 2200 block of Alter Street for decades. During that time, the only signs of life on the street were short dumpers, drug addicts and dealers, and other sorts of vermin, mainly of the animal variety.

The conditions were so bad that some residents on the 1100 block of South 23rd Street — whose properties back up to the row of abandoned lots on Alter — could not use their backyards.

Mary Clarkson said she could not open her back window to let in fresh air due to the swarms of mosquitoes and other insects. The 76-year-old wouldn’t go out her back door for fear of the rats.

Everything began to change less than four years ago. That’s when Andrew Jevremovic and his wife, River Algiers Trappler, bought the abandoned, 100-year-old biscuit bakery on the east end of the block, and then spent two years chasing away short dumpers and cleaning the building and adjacent lots.

Eventually they relocated their Chinese furniture-importing business there from Manayunk, renovated and rented artists’ studios and ultimately made the building their home.

Clarkson called the couple "a godsend" last week for what they have done for the neighborhood.

The Review printed a story about the husband-and-wife team and their plight in June. The city’s Commerce Department had made virtual poster children of the couple by then, pointing to them as positive proof of the mayor’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.

So when Jevremovic and Trappler expressed interest in acquiring a connected abandoned building — a former carriage house for the bakery — and the string of 13 vacant lots up the block, the Redevelopment Authority got the condemnation process rolling.

Meanwhile, the owner of the neglected properties, John A. Scola, surfaced with plans to build new homes on his land shortly after the Review story ran, according to Jevremovic. Scola’s attorney, Vincent DeFino, insisted the plans were in the works prior to the article’s publication.

Either way, it was enough to interrupt the condemnation process. RDA board members had been scheduled to give their final approval on Dec. 23. But the issue was suddenly dropped from the agenda before the meeting. The same thing happened Jan. 13, and it’s expected to happen again Tuesday.

During an interview this past Tuesday, DeFino said his client was a day or two away from inking a deal with an Old City developer, whom the attorney declined to name. The developer, DeFino said, is interested in building a row of middle- to upper-class dwellings on the block and restoring the carriage house.

The lawyer maintained this deal would save Philadelphia money because it would prevent the city from having to pay around $250,000, according to his estimates, to buy out Scola.

"We’re trying to avoid that by bringing in an actual buyer for the properties," DeFino said.

Jevremovic wants the properties so he can expand his business, create a parking lot and plant gardens, but said he is not against houses being built there. Bringing homeowners to the neighborhood would help eliminate some of the problems, he added.

However, Jevremovic said, he doubts the homes would fetch the high prices DeFino mentioned, and suggested the owner is trying to inflate the value to get a bigger buyout from the city. DeFino adamantly denied that was his client’s motivation.

Jevremovic said he does not trust Scola and DeFino to find a developer who will actually build on the site.

"Those people had 17 years to do something over there, straighten up their act and act like responsible people," he said. "They never did."

Scola, from the 1200 block of Tasker Street, and a partner whom DeFino refused to name bought all the properties, including the bakery Jevremovic and Trappler own, in 1985. (The bakery was sold at sheriff’s sale for $800 to a New York speculator who later sold it to the couple for $20,000.)

DeFino blamed Scola’s unnamed partner for the neglect, saying Scola had an agreement with him to maintain the lots and pay the property taxes. City records list two other names, J. Cooper and Leo V. Mirarchi, as owners of one of the lots.

Scola has sought legal action against his co-owner, DeFino said. The attorney also is negotiating the liens against the lots with city, and said Scola is willing to reimburse Jevremovic for any money he can prove he spent to maintain the properties since he moved there.

"We understand that they have provided a service and cleaned the lots," DeFino said. "We’d be willing to talk about compensating them. They need to be commended from the community."

But that is as far as they will go.

"We fully acknowledge Jevremovic’s frustration," DeFino said. "There’s no question that these people did something that was a valiant effort … but are they deserving of $300,000 worth of property for that?"

Council President Anna Verna’s office has followed Jevremovic’s and Trappler’s progress for the last couple of years and has been impressed.

"No one else had a care about this property," said Verna’s chief of staff, Kathleen Murray. "They have worked diligently to clean up that area; the neighbors would be the first to tell you that. They really have a vision for this."

Murray also said she likes that the couple see themselves expanding their business, called Octo Studio, and potentially hiring as many as 30 employees.

DeFino acknowledged Verna’s blessing would be necessary before a deal between his client and a developer could be completed.

The condemnation request could go before the RDA two weeks from Tuesday.

"I will fight like crazy not to have this horrible neighbor, but it’s not about me being greedy, it’s not about me wanting more," Jevremovic said. "We came here when this was a bad street. It’s a better street now, and if it stays the way it is, we’re still here. If it gets better, of course we are happy."

Meanwhile, all Jevremovic and Trappler can do is wait — and talk about the condition of the carriage house next door. The roof leaks and, when enough water accumulates inside, it leaks into their building.

Jevremovic tarred the roof, which sealed it for a while. But he was told recently that it would have to be replaced to prevent more damage to both buildings.

"When this process started, it was perfectly savable," he said.