Greg Luce writes: Any update on the Ace Hardware Houses, those at 3817 and 3821 Nicollet Avenue that will be demolished if not moved?� Looks like an agenda item today for the Community Development Committee is the Hennepin County HRA may take the initiative and move the houses, one to 3700 Stevens Avenue, the other to an as yet unknown county lot.� It's my understanding that the lots the Lyndale Neighborhood Development Corp had in mind have some real soil remediation issues, preventing LNDC from moving the houses. � David Brauer writes:
Last thing first: as I noted in an update to the list & neighborhood several days ago, "bad fill" (including fly ash, construction debris, and possible heavy metals) so fouled the Lyndale sites that it blew up that option. 3700 Stevens was our fallback position, but in the end, PPL could not successfully negotiate a deal with Ace Hardware. Ace set an April 30 deadline, leaving less than a month after getting so deep into the LNDC project. PPL needed to go into May to make the 3700 Stevens deal even possible, and Ace decided not to agree to that - their lobbyist told me they had financing issues and needed to go by May 1. The interiors of both houses are being salvaged by the Green Institute. I'm glad it's still on the county's agenda so they can get the latest update...hopefully there's something still possible, though I doubt it. And 3700 Stevens remains a candidate for redevelopment in any case, though several neighbors told me Thursday night they'd prefer a community garden on the site. They want more greenspace/play space because they are already wedged between three high-traffic streets (Stevens, an off-ramp-type street that borders the freeway; 1st Ave. S, a high-speed one-way used to get Downtown and to freeway streets; and Nicollet.) They also feel theirs is the one area of Kingfield that is "affordable" and they think new houses should be built elsewhere. Ongoing moral: there is no end of reasons people oppose affordable housing. But we're not giving up. David Brauer President, Kingfield neighborhood association board _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
