13 Investigates: Fixing Houston's dangerous buildings is a 'long and drawn-out process'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A large chunk of the roof of an old clothing store in Houston has been precariously hanging on top of a nearby powerline for months.

Inside the abandoned building on North Main Street, the dusty rows of metal racks announcing a clearance sale have existed even longer.

"Since I was younger, it's always been abandoned," Gael Gutiérrez, who lives near the building, said. "I've never seen it operating or anything like that, so it's been like that for a while now."

The building isn't just abandoned but also considered dangerous.

13 Investigates found it's one of more than 170 buildings across the city that are considered dangerous, according to the City of Houston.

13 Investigates visited several buildings that city inspectors deemed dangerous and found run-down apartment complexes, a burned-down restaurant, and even an old school that the Houston Independent School District still owns.

One property on the dangerous building list, located at 8707 West Tidwell Road, has been inspected at least 22 times since skeletal remains were found inside it in April 2022.

The city issued multiple citations for the property over the years, and city inspectors repeatedly described it as vacant and unsecured.

When 13 Investigates visited the building in September, the inside of it was run down and exposed.

13 Investigates reached out to the owner of that property but did not hear back. However, during a follow-up visit this week, we found it is now completely boarded up and fenced off.

Houston Public Works conducts building inspections. The department declined our requests for an interview about the city's dangerous properties but said that "any property that is considered abandoned is required to be secured from unauthorized entry. This can be done by installing a fence or by boarding up windows."

As of last month, the city said the Tidwell property "is under Legal review for approval to schedule a Dangerous Building hearing or sale of the property to the City of Houston."

Whenever a property becomes abandoned, dilapidated, or unsafe, several departments, including the city's Department of Neighborhoods, the city's Department of Public Works, and Houston's Legal Department, are involved in bringing it up to code.

However, getting a property secure or demolished due to a lack of improvements by the owner "can be a long and drawn out process," Houston City Councilmember Mario Castillo said.

Castillo said the city will first conduct several inspections of a property and issue violations if warranted. After a certain number of violations, he said, a panel triggers that warns the owner that if the building isn't brought back into compliance, it is at risk of being demolished by the city, with a lien put on the property.

But, he said, it doesn't stop there. If the owner makes a "good faith effort," the clock on the whole process gets reset, and they're granted an extension, which means a property can be considered dangerous for years.

"I think we need to look at the process because there are ways that it can just drag on. I've had a conversation with Public Works about that specifically. They recognize that the process is not efficient. The administration also recognizes that and we're going to be working together to find ways to make it more efficient to speed it up," Castillo said.

13 Investigates first started looking into the city's dangerous and abandoned properties after a building partially collapsed into the backyard of residents earlier this year during a May storm.

At the time, residents told us they were angry at the city for not demolishing the building after years of citations. The building was demolished in June after we reached out to the city and the building's owner.

SEE ALSO: Building that collapsed into yards demolished after 13 Investigates history of code violations

Since then, 13 Investigates have reviewed other dangerous properties and found that the people living next to them think the city needs to be more aggressive in tearing them down or holding their owners accountable for improving them.

Cralita Simon lives near an empty school campus at 8701 Delilah Street in Houston.

The building is owned by the Houston Independent School District but has been vacant and inspected by city workers all year.

"It's a total eyesore and it's just attracting more trash to the whole neighborhood," Simon said. "It's still owned by HISD. They could at least keep the grass cut. The building itself, I know it's going to diminish itself, just from not being used, but at least the outside (should be maintained)."

According to inspection records, when city inspectors visited the property in January, they noted the gates were open, vagrants were inside the building, and trash littered the property.

Since then, inspectors have visited the property about twice monthly, noting "no changes on the property" every month through September.

When 13 Investigates visited the property in September, there was a hole in the fence that could easily allow vagrants to gain access to the property.

In October, the city said it contacted HISD's real estate department, and by Oct. 29, the inspectors said the property was finally "secured from entry."

HISD told us on Oct. 22 that it was aware of the property's code compliance issues and was "working to secure the building in an effort to reduce the vandalism."

The district said its police department was also asked to increase patrols near the abandoned building.

"After the previous tenant vacated, several options for the property were considered, but due to the significant renovations or rebuild needed, it was determined not suitable for another use. The district is conducting long-range planning to determine the future of the property," HISD said in its statement to 13 Investigates.

Tim Goings also lives near a building Houston's Department of Neighborhoods said meets the definition of a dangerous building.

Goings said he's lived down the street from a house at 607 Melwood near the Heights for more than 40 years. He said the house has been in a state of decay for at least half of that time.

"It looks dangerous," Goings said. "We know that there are unhoused persons living here, basically going in underneath what used to be the floorboards - we're told there's no floorboards there - but they're going up under the house and going in there and, as you can see, it looks like it could just fall down at any minute on anyone."

The day 13 Investigates interviewed Goings, the Houston Police Department was there as well, questioning a man who was found inside the dilapidated home. The man slipped right back underneath the house once police released him.

Residents in the area have been so desperate for something to be done about the home that someone even spraypainted "Mario Castillo Help" onto the side of it.

Castillo said he's been advocating for the home to be demolished well before the graffiti popped up on the property.

Texas law allows cities to demolish a building if it's "dilapidated, substandard or unfit for human habitation."

But Castillo said Houston's own code for this is complicated.

In a statement, Houston Public Works told us, "Once a Dangerous Building Order is issued, the city works with the property owner to ensure they bring the property up to code or demolish the property. The owner can apply to extend the owner compliance period for good cause or hardship (defined within the Texas Local Government Code). The city will not proceed to demolish until the owner compliance period has expired."

Castillo said reiterated that owners will "manipulate" the system by "demonstrating a good faith effort that isn't actually a good faith effort," which ends up dragging the process out.

"We've encountered buildings that are dangerous, clearly dangerous, that have been standing for years, and it's very frustrating when you live next to a structure that you know is not being maintained," Castillo said. "It's a danger to you. It's a danger to people that are walking by and to the community at large, and we should be, as a city, addressing these problems."

Houston Public Works told us it "continues to engage with the Texas Legislature to refine and improve statutes that govern the Dangerous Building enforcement and abatement process. The city's enforcement and abatement process is driven by Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodologies to improve the process and reduce the time between confirmation of the dangerous building and the decision to file a lien on the property."

13 Investigates reached out to the owner of the Melwood house but did not hear back.

On Oct. 21, Houston's Department of Neighborhoods said the house is pending city approval to be demolished, but as of this week, it's still standing.

While residents like Goings are hopeful their neighborhood eyesore will soon be gone, there are still more than 170 buildings in similar condition across Houston.

"Was this even on the city's radar in some way? Are other buildings like this just being ignored that the city doesn't realize are causing issues in the neighborhood?" Castillo asked. "I would encourage residents who are dealing with this situation to reach out to their city council members. If they're not seeing results, come to public session and bring it to our attention because these are significantly impacting quality of life and we have to do something to make sure that people are not living next to structures like this."

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