‘Only the first step;’ Former office building demolished to make way for new opportunities

RIVERSIDE — Crews tore down an abandoned building in Riverside that was declared a public nuisance to make way for new development opportunities.

The former MTC office building at the 4000 block of Linden Ave was torn down today after being abandoned for over a decade, and in the last two years has been declared a public nuisance from multiple calls for service being made to the vacant building.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former office building to be demolished in Riverside today

“It was really time for us to address this issue and take the building down,” Nia Holt, the community development director of Riverside said.

According to the city, the demolition will clear up just over seven acres of redevelopment opportunity.

Now that the building is being dealt with, people are looking to new possibilities and what could potentially be built in its place.

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“We have calls like what’s happening? We see trucks coming. We see things happening there. There’s movement. What’s happening all the windows are gone. So yeah, they’re excited to see this,” Holt told News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott.

Some Riverside residents have speculated that it might be turned into a restaurant or a gym.

The hope is to turn something that’s not in use into new job opportunities for the area.

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“Any improvement’s an improvement I think,” Michael Mann, who visits Riverside frequently, said.

Before anything can be built, the concrete and the entire building have to be removed which could take until at least January to complete.

“This is only the first step,” Holt said.

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