Real Estate: Neighbors Hit a Brick Wall Over $50K Listing
By • July 24, 2023 0 1949
If you’ve been keeping up with local real estate, chances are you’ve seen stories about “the wall,” a one-foot-by-24-foot wall currently for sale on Redfin for $50,000. Owner Allan Berger thinks it could be a great place for some street art. Unfortunately, the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission has deemed it unsafe.
Late last year, ANC 2E Chair Rick Murphy wrote to the Department of Buildings: “A structural engineer from a well-regarded insurance company found that the abandoned wall poses both a physical and personal property risk.”
The expert sought out by Murphy said that the wall was in danger of “imminent collapse.”
The wall overlooks the parking lot of the Truist Bank at 30th & M Streets NW, where once stood the historic Union Hotel which was used as a hospital during the Civil War.
In coincidence of all coincidences, the owner attached to the home on the northern side of the wall is named Daniela Walls. Walls is a single mother and does not have the $50,000 to buy the wall. A single mother, she wanted people to know that just because she lives in Georgetown doesn’t mean she has the funds to repair the wall.
Meanwhile, Murphy’s letter called for the Department of Buildings to secure the wall using the structural engineer’s advice, and to charge Berger the costs of the work (Berger has already been fined for the crumbling wall). The letter went on to ask for a mediation to change the owner of the wall once the danger has been taken care of and the wall secured.
Working through a lawyer, Walls offered $600 to pay Berger for wall repairs, which was the city’s tax assessed value. Berger was offended by the offer, quoting the square foot value of property in Georgetown, saying he was insulted by the $600 offer.
The current listing reads: “Own a piece of Georgetown. This wall located at 30 and M NW. The opportunities are limitless.” More on this neighborhood saga soon.
The wall attached to 1213 30th St. NW, which overlooks a bank parking lot. Georgetowner photo.
The wall attached to 1213 30th St. NW, which overlooks a bank parking lot. Georgetowner photo.
The wall attached to 1213 30th St. NW, which overlooks a bank parking lot. Georgetowner photo.
