# It Is a Mystery (Legal/Real Estate Brains Please Help) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360 "2008-04-14T21:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/21 "2008-04-15T15:48:31Z")
Just wear a hard hat, a tool belt, and carry a clipboard. No one will question you looking inside the wall if you look like you are \*supposed \*to look inside the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/22 "2008-04-15T16:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=trmatthe] Photos? Or go to [maps.google.com](http://maps.google.com), track it down and paste the address bar here. [/QUOTE] Put this in: 2533 SW 9th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315. It isn’t exact, but you should see in the sat image a church surrounded by parking lots and with a baseball diamond on the southeast side of the churchyard. The perfectly square green patch behind it is the property in question. If you magnify you can see some debris in there in the southern half, looks like vehicles to me. In the northeast corner you can see a good down shot view of the Wall. ---
**Author:** ![PuddingCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@PuddingCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PuddingCat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/23 "2008-04-15T16:14:52Z")
Cool! Here is the link. Going to poke around some and see what I can find. https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2533%2BSW%2B9th%2BAve,%2BFort%2BLauderdale,%2BFL%2B33315&jsv=107&sll=51.522479,-0.111429&sspn=0.009973,0.02547&ie=UTF8&ll=26.089775,-80.155451&spn=0.003599,0.006368&t=h&z=18&iwloc=addr or [http://preview.tinyurl.com/6o954g](http://preview.tinyurl.com/6o954g) tim ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/24 "2008-04-15T16:38:56Z")
That’s just weird. There does indeed look to be a few junked cars, and perhaps a shed in there, but it looks like it’s mostly forested. My best guess is that someone owns it privately and didn’t want it developed, and decided to make certain no one encroached on the property but good. I bet it’s owned by the mob and they use it to dump bodies. They own an adjacent house that hides the gate. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/25 "2008-04-15T16:49:30Z")
Neat. Looks like there is a driveway/road inside the plot down near the lower right corner. Have you considered asking the homeowners what it is? It shouldn’t be too terribly difficult to find tax ID info from the clerk’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/26 "2008-04-15T16:55:05Z")
Have you guys seen The Village? Just asking… ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/27 "2008-04-15T16:55:28Z")
Ask the local kids. They know what’s in there. ---
**Author:** ![PuddingCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@PuddingCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PuddingCat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/28 "2008-04-15T16:58:58Z")
grrr - dupe post due to timeout ---
**Author:** ![Fat\_Chance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Fat\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fat_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/29 "2008-04-15T17:14:42Z")
I wonder if it is owned by the airport, which is very near. Maybe used to house some power station, storage, radio beacon, etc, hence the wall and barbed wire, but has since been used to dispose of junk then forgotten. My guess is that there is indeed a gate/door somewhere. On the lower left going up behind the houses it almost like a driveway, as the houses’ properties all seem to end 20 feet from the wall, maybe that is an old access drive and the opening is back there somewhere. I am flying into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday - may have to swing over in the rental and drive by 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/30 "2008-04-15T17:26:07Z")
Holy crap that is way too cool. How you’ve managed not to sneak in ninja style and have a look around for buried treasure and clumsy mafiosos is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/31 "2008-04-15T17:36:55Z")
I was thinking Superfund site myself. Maybe some environmental accident contaminated the land, but its low on the list of clean-ups so its walled off until its number comes up. Ft. Lauderdale has dozens of these sites. There’s even one listed as 3301 SW 9th, which is a few blocks from the mystery site. It doesn’t seem to be on the EPA list, but it could be a state clean-up. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/32 "2008-04-15T17:38:52Z")
I remember a walled off property pretty much like this in my neighborhood as a kid. (NJ) Didn’t seem to be any entrances, but I didn’t have access all around. Looked like no one went in there for 30 years or more. There was an odd shed like structure in it, I had a vague idea it led underground, a major sewer access point/vent? Obsolete pump house? Maybe the city owned it. I don’t understand why I didn’t try to get in there as a kid. This is totally fascinating. Next time I’m in that city maybe I’ll go down that block and see if it’s still a walled off lot. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/33 "2008-04-15T17:40:35Z")
[QUOTE=Acid Lamp] My best guess is that someone owns it privately and didn’t want it developed, and decided to make certain no one encroached on the property but good. [/QUOTE] This would be my guess. Chainlink doesn’t last and pretty soon you have holes all over the place and probably illegal dumping to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/34 "2008-04-15T18:04:04Z")
> [@Dag Otto](#): > > Ask the local kids. They know what’s in there. Thought about it. Not the nicest neighborhood in town though, I think I’d rather hop the fence myself then have kids talking about a guy asking questions. Especially since I live around there. > [@hotflungwok](#): > > Holy crap that is way too cool. How you’ve managed not to sneak in ninja style and have a look around for buried treasure and clumsy mafiosos is beyond me. Chester Copperpot! > [@Richard Parker](#): > > I was thinking Superfund site myself. Yeah, that’s another good reason why I haven’t hopped the fence. I was thinking at lunch, who is mowing the grass just outside the fence? Hrmmm. Someone, maybe someone who doesn’t want it to get overgrown. And why not let it get overgrown? So the city doesn’t start asking questions. Maybe something spilled, and it was cheaper to wall it and mow the edges and just forget about it. Or quietly hope everyone else just forgot about it. So two ladders, a flashlight, rubber boots, a lead apron, a geiger counter and bail money. > [@Fat Chance](#): > > I am flying into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday - may have to swing over in the rental and drive by Okay, but you have to do the Truffle Shuffle. Have a conference call in a few minutes then I’ll swing over and try to get numbers off same side houses on the adjoining blocks. I’m on the case! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/35 "2008-04-15T18:08:05Z")
[QUOTE=Dag Otto] Ask the local kids. They know what’s in there. [/QUOTE] Most likely involves a guy with a hook… ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/36 "2008-04-15T18:18:54Z")
That looks like a hotel of at least 3 stories just to the north, a tall building in any case. There’s an opportunity to get a view from a high point. If it’s a nice hotel, $20 to the bellboy will get you on the roof. Otherwise, you could try the janitor for roof access. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/37 "2008-04-15T18:53:47Z")
wow…this thread has potential. … Please **Grossb** , don’t leave us hanging!!! We need answers…there is ignorance to be fought here. Plus a good, fun mystery. Like the famous “lost wallet from the 1970’s” thread… ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/38 "2008-04-15T19:11:03Z")
I saw something like that in a Fritz Lang movie. Of course, Death lived inside, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/39 "2008-04-15T19:22:53Z")
It’s a body farm. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360/40 "2008-04-15T19:30:52Z")
It’s like a mini-Cloverfield. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-a-mystery-legal-real-estate-brains-please-help/445360.md?page=3)