While there are exciting plans for a new-build at Grant and Potomac there is an equally exciting development at Grant and Arnold Place: 65 Grant Street has a new owner. Wadkin LLC paid $60,000 for the neglected property today. The Niagara Falls-based development firm purchased the property from Young K. Paik and Okhee Paik’s 65 Grant Street LLC.
The sale starts a new, hopeful chapter for the run-down building. The Paiks have been in housing court over forty times since 2009 because of building code violations. A fire earlier this year and a crumbling façade seemed to doom the building. City Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney in late June indicated that if a buyer was not found he was inclined to issue an emergency demolition order. At a court hearing on July 9, Wadkin stepped up to the plate and after today’s transaction, the Paiks are off the hook.
Wadkin is expected to take immediate action to shore up the building, install scaffolding, and remove the barriers in front of the building. The developer plans retail and residential space for the building.