City to reacquire Humboldt Greenway lots
By: Amy Luesebrink 06/01/2008
In order to meet pending June deadlines, on May 16 the City approved a recommendation to negotiate and expend up to $240,000 SHP funds to reacquire 98 vacant properties and six to eight built (but unoccupied) homes within the Humboldt Greenway. The move is intended to offer a solution to the City, County and developer Ross Feffercorn, formerly of CountryHome Builders/Humboldt Greenway Development LLC, now Humboldt Greenway Development LLC. The developer had fallen behind in property taxes and was facing looming foreclosure like so many other developers across the nation in today’s housing market.
Matt Goldstein, AICP, Senior Project Coordinator for the Multifamily Housing Development of the City’s Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Department and Council President Barb Johnson attended the May 1 Lind Bohanon Neighborhood Association meeting. Goldstein also attended the May 13 Shingle Creek Neighborhood Association meeting. They highlighted the proposal that would come before the City Council. “The overall goal is to offer a reasonable solution to reacquire the properties from the developer, hold them and then do a new RFP [request for proposal] to find a qualified developer,” said Goldstein.
Initial comments from neighborhood residents raised questions: Why the City would want to purchase so many properties, how long will it take to find a new developer, if the housing designs will remain the same, if new homes will be more in line with the original intent of being “affordable,” what will be developed on these properties, if there’s potential for new businesses to replace those lost from the Greenway project, and would higher density and more amenities be considered. Goldstein said, for consistency of development, the process would be to acquire the properties, and then create an advisory committee to review the new RFP where many of these questions would be addressed.
For info regarding this project contact Matt Goldstein at CPED 612-673-5075, matt.goldstein@ci.minneapolis.mn.us or attend the next LBNA or SCNA neighborhood meetings (see pages 8 and 9 for dates and times).