Approximately 29 properties along Rhode Island Ave NE that were delinquent on taxes were put up for auction last month. Of those 29, Janice Booker’s offices at 2027 Rhode Island Ave NE was one of them. She owed more than $113,000 on her law office building. Ms. Booker also is the community organizer who brought the Woodridge Farmers Market to us (which has not really grown since its inception a few months ago). Why am I bringing up these auctioned properties on RIA? Very few of the RIA properties were actually sold during auction (Ms. Booker’s was not one of them). Of the total auctioned in the City, only 1,653 sold. This doesn’t bode well for prime real estate for a “Main Street” like Ms. Booker’s. It was cheap property compared to buying it outright yet no entrepreneur or restauranteur thinks the area is ready.
My take: Perhaps if our elected officials from Ward 5 and At-Large were serious about making RIA a Great Street and revitalizing it, these properties would be prime. The problem is our elected officials have not made much effort to attract the revitalization to the corridor. Only to its fringes on each end of it. I know that some of our elected officials have their own issues to work out and perhaps they should step aside so that others can step up and bring real change to our area. Otherwise, they need to stop the lip service and put more emphasis on the corridor. Redeveloping the Metro station is the one thing to hang their hat on (BTW, the Shoppers/Target and WalMart shopping centers is not Rhode Island Ave). The local ANC leaders who were embroiled in their own financial scams with ANC money have done what was right and new leadership is stepping up (more on this later). This is the first step.
Here is a full list of properties along RIA NE that were delinquent and up for auction:
JOHN GOODWIN 2109 RHODE ISLAND NE $1,611.04
ATLANTIC CAPITAL ONE, LL 2600 RHODE ISLAND NE $3,295.20
TX BROOKLAND HOMES LLC 2604 RHODE ISLAND NE $763.55
TONI COEFIELD 20 RHODE ISLAND NE $2,174.88
INGRID LIPSEY 330 RHODE ISLAND NE $913.47
METROPOLITAN COOPERATIVE 200 RHODE ISLAND NE $791.69
METROPOLITAN COOPERATIVE 210 RHODE ISLAND NE $15,747.37
M N REAL ESTATE ENTERPRI 720 RHODE ISLAND NE $929.30
ARNOLD CUNNINGHAM ALVIN MARTIN 1236 RHODE ISLAND NE $3,181.22
ALYCE GULLATTEE 1515 RHODE ISLAND NE $31,005.28
KING SOLOMON TEMPLE OF T 1602 RHODE ISLAND NE $12,474.95
ROBERT MCDUFFIE GALE MCDUFFIE 1731 RHODE ISLAND NE $5,222.61
KATRINA MOON JAMES GRAYTON 1818 RHODE ISLAND NE $1,573.18
JANICE BOOKER 2027 RHODE ISLAND NE $113,783.39
BARBARA DEMENT 2014 RHODE ISLAND NE $1,279.42
1723 MONTELLO LLC 2000 RHODE ISLAND NE $3,570.05
JIM THORPE 2379 RHODE ISLAND NE $10,894.62
SULTANA INC 3001 RHODE ISLAND NE $1,196.12
SULTANA INC 3005 RHODE ISLAND NE $1,423.90
SULTANA INC 2919 RHODE ISLAND NE $3,232.48
SULTANA INC 2911 RHODE ISLAND NE $2,510.72
CORNELIA WOODFORK 2810 RHODE ISLAND NE $826.99
(Some were not included in this list because I could not determine the address)
