The city of Detroit settled 13 lawsuits involving 108 properties owned by notorious land owner Dennis Kefallinos.
Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett said the settlement was negotiated over five months and represents “a significant win” for the city. It requires Kefallinos to spend $850,000 to demolish a commercial building at 4545 Beniteau Street and put five other properties in a court-appointed receiver, who will determine if they should be demolished or developed.
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Kefallinos had roughly $922,400 in unpaid blight tickets, but Mallett said the city would have used those funds to demolish properties anyway.
Mallett said Kefallinos agreed to identify all the properties he owns in Detroit, which can be difficult to track. The city will send inspectors to each building to ensure they are secured and are given some kind of aesthetic improvement by Sept. 30, so they don’t blight the neighborhood.
“You’ll do something that will allow this building to coexist in a more pleasant manner with the neighborhood in which it’s currently located,” Mallett said. “This is going to give the city of Detroit the ability to walk back into court whenever there is a violation and start the conversation with the court.”
Outlier Media spoke with Niko Matsamakis, general manager for Kefallinos’ business operations. Matsamakis said he hopes the settlement represents a “new beginning.”
“The city and Dennis both have the same goals,” Matsamakis told Outlier. “So as long as we all do what we’re supposed to do, I only see our relationship strengthening and public perception shifting.”
Mallett described Kefallinos as one of Detroit’s largest commercial landlords. Many of his properties have been hit with blight tickets and other enforcement actions “on a regular basis,” Mallett said.
“Why are we constantly in a battle for this city’s future with people who own property?” Mallett said. “People do have a stake, their property is protected by the police and fire department (and they) benefit from whatever work that the Department of Public Works does. I mean, we all pay for them to have this opportunity to own this property.”
Mallett questioned the point of owning vast sums of land, other than to treat them as “lottery tickets” that will bring a potential pay day when the surrounding neighborhood starts to recover.
“What is missing from that calculation is that the blighted building holds the community from coming back. If you fix this building, the community will be better off.”
Council Member Latisha Johnson said Kefallinos “has stifled progress for our communities” by holding vacant land.
“I don’t know if Dennis Kefallinos has an affinity to the east side, but I think he does, and particularly to District 4,” Johnson said during a committee meeting last week. “It has created so many challenges for us. I have seen numerous properties throughout the district that somehow he gained possession of and would do absolutely nothing with.
“Property speculation just continues to hold our neighborhoods back.”