After Fannie Mae foreclosed on Ted Poetsch's home in north Minneapolis last year, the mortgage giant promised that it wouldn't leave the house vacant for long.
The stately Victorian at 823 Penn Avenue N. had become a somewhat notorious part of Fannie Mae's portfolio, after Poetsch was accidentally boarded up inside while being evicted in May 2009.
Yet one year later, the house is still a boarded-up eyesore. The house's demolition by its current owner, the city of Minneapolis, has taken eight months to wind through the bureaucracy of historic and environmental reviews and contract discussions.
City engineering inspector Mike Williams said he expects the old Poetsch house to be knocked down next month, after he assembled a contract to demolish a half dozen houses. The city is paying South St. Paul contractor K.A. Kamish $96,780 to take down the six homes. It's part of the federally-funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which includes stepped-up demolitions of homes left vacant by the foreclosure epidemic.
