Courts Approve City Officials’ Bid To Take Man’s Allentown Property

Abandoned, vacant, and zombie properties around Western New York continue to be a major issue for neighborhoods in every corner of the Buffalo area. From the posh suburbs to the middle of the inner city, these structures often drain a community of the life and vibrancy that makes the 716 such a great place to live.

Sometimes circumstances happen to a property where the owner falls on hard times or there's some sort of outside action, like a fire, that causes a property to fall into disrepair, while other times an owner just abandons a property and walks away. When that happens, neighbors and government officials often have little recourse to be able to make things better.

However, there is a clause in New York State real estate law that allows cities and towns to seize property that has been abandoned or neglected.

That's exactly what's happening with a multi-family structure in Buffalo's Allentown neighborhood, and thanks to a recent court ruling, city of Buffalo taxpayers will soon be the owners of an infamous, nearly $1,000,000 apartment building that has been under a lot of scrutiny lately.

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The nearly 4,000 square foot building at 2 St. Louis Place in Allentown has been in the spotlight of people in Buffalo for years. However, it wasn't until two prominent Buffalonians were murdered by an alleged squatter who lived in the building that a real outrage happened.

Since the tragic death of Michael Harmon and Jordan Celotto, city officials have ratcheted up the legal moves to take 2 St. Louis Place away from its owner, Charles Dobucki.

Dobucki was arrested earlier this year after years of housing court violations related to the building and, according to WIVB-TV, a recent court ruling has officially cleared the path for the city to take title to the property.

Charles Dobucki has been an unscrupulous slumlord in Allentown for decades... This is one of five properties that have been vacant and abandoned for decades... Neighbors have to deal with roof collapses, squatters living there, fires, there was a dead body found there in one time on the porch... I mean people have been living next to this serious blight for a long time.
-Mitch Nowakowski, Buffalo Fillmore District Common Councilmember, speaking to WIVB-TV

City officials are currently deciding what to do with the property, with the potential plan for it to be an apartment building. Once it's taken over by Buffalo, it will soon become another one of the more than 7,000 properties that are owned by New York State's second-largest city.