City Turns Blighted Building Into Neighborhood Park

Representing the City of Chelsea, our Tax Title Recovery team successfully defeated a multi-level attack on the City’s authority to demolish an unsafe structure, and the City’s right to record a lien against the property to recover its demolition costs. Acknowledging the appellate case law on municipal demolitions has been sparse, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued a reported decision fully supporting the City’s powers.

Our team was able to help the City redevelop a dangerous, blighted property with a variety of tools, including municipal code enforcement and litigation involving M.G.L. c. 40U, issuance of formal public safety orders, the statutory demolition process, winning two lawsuits in Suffolk Superior Court, and ultimately, prevailing in the resulting appeal.