Pastor Calvin Butts’ Abyssinian Development Corporation is resuming work on the site of the Ennis Francis building in West Harlem.
The nonprofit landlord and developer ran out of funding on the eight-story project at 2070 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 124th Street last July, and thus had to put the project on hold. The dilapidated apartment complex currently on the site has racked up violations over mold, bugs and the lack of heat.
Abyssinian has not filed taxes in three years, the New York Daily News. But the last time it did, its $24 million in expenses exceeded revenue, which was around $23 million. Abyssinian took over the building in 2005 from Herbert Wright.
“What really hurt our development corporation was the recession and real estate deals we got into. Banks shut down on us,” Butts told the Daily News. “There was no malfeasance.” [NYDN] — Mark Maurer