Abatement Appeals Board upholds order for 3061 Sixteenth St., grants 90‑day abeyance

At a Wednesday meeting in April, the Abatement Appeals Board unanimously upheld an order of abatement for 3061 Sixteenth Street and granted the owner a 90‑day abeyance to complete required work.

The case, filed as No. 6859 with Mahadeva LLC listed as owner and Henry Karnelowitz appearing as the owner’s representative, was the subject of a staff presentation by Maurice Hernandez, chief billing inspector for court enforcement. Hernandez said the department’s file shows a complaint first opened in 2015, a referral to court enforcement in April 2017 and an auto abatement issued in 2018. "The valuation of the work is approximately $393,000," Hernandez said, and staff recommended upholding the abatement and imposing assessment costs.

Karnelowitz told the board the property — which he described as a long‑neglected residential hotel — is undergoing a major renovation that has shifted bathrooms from communal to individual units and added a communal kitchen. He said tenants vacated during the work and that funding delays have held up final inspections. "They're going to provide a better quality of life... it's going to be a win win for everyone," Karnelowitz said, urging the board to grant a longer abeyance to finish the project.

Board members pressed for clarifications on whether the work constituted a change of use, whether the number of units changed and whether planning had reviewed the revision. An inspector and staff said the work was interior to the existing building shell, that the number of units did not change and that planning reviewed and signed off on the revision. The city attorney's office advised the board that potential leaseback negotiations with the city or tenant‑return arrangements were not matters the board could condition on this abatement appeal.

After deliberation that included concerns about affordability and tenant rights of return, one commissioner moved to uphold the abatement order, uphold costs and fees, and hold an abeyance for 90 days rather than the nine months requested by the owner. Another commissioner seconded the motion. The clerk called a roll‑call vote; President Warshall, Vice President Lee, Commissioner Clinch, Commissioner Constance, Commissioner McCarthy and Commissioner Walker each voted yes. The motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Moss was recorded as excused.

The board recorded that the owner intends to seek inspections and pursue a leaseback negotiation with the city under a new program, but the board noted those negotiations and any right‑of‑return questions were not enforceable conditions of this appeal. The board did not receive public comment on the item.