Well, legal and zoning issues aside, didn’t they own that property? Did they collect an insurance settlement? can they not collect on insurance because of their illegally running an apartment/artist colony residence place???
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Even if insurance and lawsuits are headaches for them, can’t they sell; doesn’t the property have some residual value?
No, they didn’t own it, they didn’t collect insurance, they could have tens of millions of wrongful death lawsuits just waiting to pile up on them if they haven’t been filed already.
The property, I believe, was owned by an Asian fellow or his company or family. I am not sure whether a concrete building in which a serious fire burned can be saved. Fire or not, it likely cannot be economically be brought up to 2017 building and especially seismic codes and it would probably have to be, to “re-earn” any kind of certificate of occupancy or the industrial equivalent. And it’s in a fairly ratty section of town, so the idea of rehabbing it at high cost just to be another 5K sq foot warehouse (where there are perhaps dozens already available for lease) may very well not make any sense at all.
The value of that building today is likely to be the value of the land minus about $75K-$100K in demolition to break it up and remove the debris.
I’m not claiming to be an expert, but I *do* live in the area, with *some* commercial RE experience.
“didnt they own that property?”
no. they rented it from the owner, who was yet another slumlord like themselves.