Controversial Bay Ridge Homeowner Faces Foreclosure

A controversial developer who owns dozens of properties in Bay Ridge is facing foreclosure on several of the houses he owns in the neighborhood. In 2007, the Courier ran an article (reprinted in full on the Bay Ridge Journal) reporting on the numerous complaints in the neighborhood about Mousa Khalil’s pattern of buying up historic houses in the area and allegedly leaving them to rot; the Bar Ridge Journal speculated at the time the the developer’s goal was to be able to tear the houses down through demolition-by-neglect. Now seven properties that Khalil owns—7701 Ridge Blvd, 6815 Ridge Blvd, 166 82 Street, 225 77th Street, 7910 4th Avenue, 456 Ovington Ave and 464 Ovington—are scheduled for auction on January 19th with a $2,344,228 in total liens, according to PropertyShark. All the properties are one- or two-family houses, and many are Colonial-style. We imagine the interiors aren’t in great shape: there was a partial vacate order at 7701 Ridge Boulevard but no outstanding DOB violations on the other homes. The developer currently owns more than 30 houses in Bay Ridge, according to Property Shark. Will others be heading to the block soon?