Real estate developer who spent $20,000 to transform trash-strewn lot into a pretty garden is told by city he was trespassing... and now they want him to change it BACK

Real estate developer Ori Feibush tried for years to buy vacant lot in Point Breeze neighbourhood of Philadelphia from the city

Never made headway and eventually tried to get city to clean lot ahead of his coffee shop's opening

When that didn't happen, he cleaned lot at own expense, around $20,000

City told him he was trespassing and causing taxpayers undue burden

Now told to change lot back to its original state

A real estate developer who repeatedly sent in requests to buy a vacant lot next to some of his property was repeatedly denied or ignored by the city, he said.

So Ori Feibush, who owns OCF Realty as well as OCF Coffee House, decided to take matters into his own hands, spending around $20,000 to clean highway dividers, weeds, and a decade’s worth of garbage.

But the city of Philadelphia said that by cleaning the dilapidated lot, Mr Feibush was trespassing. To add insult to injury, the city said that Mr Feibush had to return the 1,600-square feet back to its original state.

In hot water: Real Estate Developer Ori Feibush, pictured in his coffee shop in Philadelphia, has been asked by the city to return a vacant lot by his shop back to its original state

Before: Cement highway dividers, weeds, and rubbish filled the vacant lot, spilling onto the sidewalk

After: Mr Feibush and his crew spent four days ahead of his coffee shop's opening turning the lot into a usable, landscaped area

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Feibush said it was never his intention to spend so much time and money on fixing up the lot – he had wanted to buy it.

‘That particular lot has had importance to me for many reasons,’ he explained. ‘It’s directly adjacent to a coffee shop we just opened.



'I contacted the city six years ago, and again four years ago in earnest to try and purchase it. It never came into fruition from one bureaucratic reason or another.’

He said that after numerous calls to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority – each more earnest than the next –things were getting desperate in his attempts to own the lot in the Point Breeze neighbourhood of the city.

His coffee house was slated to open on August 16, with one problem – the eyesore next to his new business. ‘You have the three-foot high highway barriers, then you have heavy cement and tiles, then debris from the past decade, it hadn’t been touched in years by the city,’ he said.



‘It was in complete disrepair. Thousands of broken needles, and condoms, it was spilling over the highway barriers. This was literally where people were throwing their garbage.’

He said as a last ditch effort, he called the PRA to have them clean the lot ahead of his coffee shop’s opening.



Trashy: The lot was overrun with bottles, needles, concrete, and other undesirable items

Long haul: Feibush and his team rented construction equipment to clear what they estimated was 40 tonnes of rubbish

Layered look: The team laid down mulch and a tarp to prevent weeds from sprouting back up

Mr Feibush called every day, with officials telling him they’d send someone out soon. Then, he said, they sent a small Caterpillar machine to deal with the 40 tonnes of debris.

‘It’s like showing up to a stadium and expecting to clean it with a shovel,’ the realtor said. ‘It was such a token effort that we said forget it.’

From there, he and his crew hired some heavy-duty equipment, moving the cement barriers back from the sidewalk, putting down a tarp to stop weeds from growing, and laying down irrigation systems .



In total, Mr Feibush estimated that he spent anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 on improvements.

'This is not something I had any interest in doing. I expected a thank you, I didn't expect the reaction to be what it was, go find 40 tonnes of trash and put it back.' -Real estate developer Ori Feibush



But, he said, the finished product was well worth it. ‘We made (the lot) what it should have always been,’ he said.

But according to Paul Chrystie, who works as the director of communications for Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community Development, the barriers were there for the safety of residents, and also to prevent people from dumping their trash.

He tol d ABC News that th e property was not ignored, though it could have used a little work. He said in a statement: ‘There are hundreds of agreements in Philadelphia allowing private citizens to use public lots.

‘Mr Feibush chose not to pursue one, which is not fair to the taxpayers who are foregoing revenue and accepting liability, nor to three potential buyers who have followed the rules that Mr Feibush is ignoring.’

The real estate developer told MailOnline that the block is in much better shape than it’s been in years. ‘It took us four days just to remove the trash,’ he said.



Hard day's night: Workers look at the progress of the 1,600 square-foot lot

Where the sidewalk ends: OCF even laid down a new, wider sidewalk, uninhibited by cement dividers, weeds, and garbage

Finished product: The area, complete with landscaping, candles, and children, has become a welcome respite from Philadelphia's heat

‘This is not something I had any interest in doing. I expected a thank you, I didn’t expect the reaction to be what it was, go find 40 tonnes of trash and put it back.’

He estimated that it would cost between $70,000 and $80,000 to purchase the lot from the city, and at this point, he said, ‘I would pay it just to keep it a garden.

'I would gladly pay if there was fair market value. The real shame is that they claim I never expressed interest, but I and probably others as well were turned down.

