My City 'Tis of Thee

Speculator neglect of Highland Park properties? Not on Robinson's watch.

In September 2022, a storm blew a tree down onto the sidewalk between Second and Woodward on Manchester Avenue. Seniors living in Bishop Moore high rise, on their way to the bus stop or to the shops on Woodward, were forced to step off of the sidewalk onto Manchester Avenue to get around the obstruction. The property where the tree fell is the vacant commercial space on the southwest corner of Woodward and Manchester. A sign on the property reads: “FOR LEASE: JASON OROW / FERRIS HAMAMA, KEYSTONE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE, 248-356-8000, www.keystonecres.com.

The situation was inconvenient, not to mention dangerous for the seniors living at Bishop Moore who regularly use that sidewalk. The seniors called the number on the billboard to let the owners or managers know about the obstruction. In fact, several of those seniors called the number on that billboard multiple times. Nobody ever showed up to move the tree. Finally, a few exasperated seniors got together and moved the tree off of the sidewalk and onto the grass. Perhaps the company holding the liability policy for Keystone Commercial Real Estate would be interested to know about that.

That incident happened four months ago and still, the tree remains an eyesore on a commercial Woodward Avenue lot. Someone should tell the owner, H.K. who apparently lives in McComb County, that Jason Orow and Ferris Hamama are not very serious about leasing this particular Woodward Avenue property. Other dumping has occurred on the property as well as the photos show.

The woman from McComb County who hired these two bozos is not the only speculator buying up properties in Highland Park with no interest in caring for those properties. As a matter of fact, most speculators are worse than this lady, because many of them live out of state and buy properties sight-unseen. Whether they are from Michigan or not, speculators who sit on properties for years and fail to care for them guarantee that our community, OUR seniors, OUR children, OUR families, continue to live amongst hazardous lots and vacant buildings while they, the speculators, sit around their condos in McComb County, New York or Beijing, completely disconnected from this community, waiting for some grand imagined payday.

Not on my watch. Highland Parkers deserve better and WE WILL HAVE BETTER. As for those business owners who don’t wish to show they care about our community, and especially to those who treat Highland Park like our city is nothing more than a hand in an online poker game, THIS IS YOUR NOTICE. Whatever it takes, Highland Parkers are fed up with the people who perpetuate blight upon our community. We won’t let the situation stand another season.