The couple could not be reached for comment for this story. But their attorney, Albert Kramer, told residents at a Town Hall meeting Tuesday that improvements are finally on the way. Kramer — who spoke by speaker phone during the meeting — said he will soon take steps to clean up the building and is talking with several developers about major upgrades. He said the owners, who inherited the property years ago, lack business acumen.
“We will improve the aesthetics of the property, we will have full tenancy, and we will generate better revenues for the people who own it,’’ said Kramer, a retired Quincy District Court judge, who used to live in Brookline. “I am now working at it. I’m dedicated to help.’’
The property — known as Durgin Garage — is a rarity in Brookline, where empty storefronts usually don’t stay that way for long and the median single-family home price tops $1 million. Despite the building’s condition, the landlords have paid their taxes and generally addressed public health concerns such as trash and broken windows, leaving the town with limited ability to take action, public officials said.
“The building is unsightly, it is a nuisance to the neighborhood,’’ said Jeff Levine, Brookline’s planning director. But, he added, “There is no law they have to rent spaces to tenants or make the building attractive.’’
The garage was designed in 1926 to provide long-term parking for nearby residents and is one of the town’s last intact garages built during that era, said Greer Hardwicke, the town’s preservation planner. It currently houses an auto body shop in the back of the building located at the tip of Pleasant Street, a busy thoroughfare that flows into Beacon Street.
