City of Birmingham Sues Owners of 3rd Avenue Shell and Adjacent Property Over Continued Illegal and Violent Activity
BIRMINGHAM, AL – The City of Birmingham’s Office of the City Attorney is suing the owners and operators of properties located at 800 and 814 3rd Avenue West due to the continued high amount of illegal activity including violence. Third Avenue Ventures, LLC and Express Mart of Alabama, LLC have been named as the owners in the complaint.
The city states the properties has been “essentially used as a launching pad for criminal activity” including drug activity and violence. In the past two years, Birmingham Police have responded to hundreds of calls at or near the properties. In the last year alone, police have responded to cases related to theft, kidnapping, assault, drugs, dangerous exhibition driving and more.
The city contends:
• More than 50 calls were received by Birmingham Police concerning the properties in the past month.
• In January 2024, a woman was beaten inside the doorway of the property known as 3rd Avenue Shell, abducted and eventually murdered.
• On the evening of Saturday, May 4, 2024, a shooting occurred resulting in at least seven injuries and one death on the premises.
The complaint states “neighboring residents are in serious risk of suffering immediate and irreparable harm.”
“I have instructed the City Attorney to take steps to deal with the public safety concerns at this location. Our small businesses are the backbone of our city, but when they do not provide a basic commitment to protecting their premises, they jeopardize the well-being of their businesses and the public,” Mayor Randall L. Woodfin said. “Local businessowners must be accountable for the activity on their property, specifically properties that have been constant sites of illegal disruption.”
“We are committed to holding property owners accountable for ongoing criminal activity that poses a danger for individuals both at those properties and the surrounding neighborhood,” City Attorney Nicole King said.
In the court filing, an affidavit from Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr states the “properties have been at the center of numerous shootings, altercations and other felonyassaults.” Carr’s affidavit also states the owners of the properties appear “unwilling to take the necessary steps to stop criminal activity from occurring on the premises.”
The filing requests the court declare the properties a public nuisance and require the properties totake the necessary steps to eliminate criminal activity. The complaint asks the court to allow the city to demolish the properties if the defendants do not comply.
The Code of Alabama, 1975, Section 6-5-156.3 allows municipalities to seek a permanent injunction of a property preventing further use as a drug nuisance and to seek damages pursuant to Section 6-5-155.6 (d)(4).
In the spring of 2020, City Attorney Nicole King created the Office of the City Attorney’s Drug and Nuisance Abatement Team, also known as DNAT, which works through the courts to hold landowners accountable for keeping their properties clean and getting rid of crime and blight associated with nuisance issues. More than 120 properties have received demand for corrective
action. DNAT continues to investigate other properties. DNAT works closely with the Birmingham Police Department to identify areas where landlords are not taking care of properties or providing inadequate security.
Problems with drug and nuisance properties can be reported via email to problemproperty@birminghamal.gov or residents may call the internal Drug and Nuisance Abatement Team at 205-254-2369 during normal business hours.
