The sad thing about the houses torn down was that I had and other rehabbers had the money to immediately start any rehab projects as far back as 5 years ago. I used to do on average 10 total rehabs a year from 1974 through 1996. Most of these were government owned (FHA or VA) or bank repos.
Since 1997, I have been able to find only 3 to do. Unfortunately, the previous City Hall people would not let us get are hands on any of the MCDA properties. They also took all of the County owned tax forfeiture properties that we used to be able to buy at auction. Most ended up being torn down - just a total waste! Let me give you a quick example. I bought a duplex on the North side for $5.000 that needed a code compliance (total rehab and bring up to new building code) in 1998. The City said no, they wanted it torn down. At the 249 hearing, I presented a 9 page detailed bid on the total cost to rehab the duplex for $49,000 (I have my own crew). The City rep presented an estimate that was written on 2 napkins (I am not kidding) for $140,000 with no breakdown at all, just some general estimates. The City committee (chaired by Mr. teardown himself - Joe Biernat) voted for demo. Their reason was that in their opinion there was no way I could do it that cheap. It did not matter that I had done over 250 total rehabs in my career in Mpls. I decided to fight the City in Court. After over $70,000 in attorney fees and an appellate court ruling against me, I decided not to fight any more. The City attorney privately agreed to help stop the wholesale destruction of perfectly good buildings, and the City's rate of teardowns dropped by over 80%. So all in all, I had accomplished alot! The new City Council has also basically stopped the 249 process (ie teardown) so this stupidity will not happen again, at least in the forseeable future. Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Constance Nompelis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "steven meldahl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Chris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "MPLS Forum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 5:01 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Boarded Houses > Steve Meldahl is right that most of these boarded > homes are privately owned, and in my experience they > are very difficult to get information on. > > As a young, poor college student looking for a house > in Minneapolis three years ago, I was extremely > interested in this glut of boarded and (seemingly) > abandoned houses. Many of them have lovely victorian > characteristics that you don't find in newer > buildings. Unfortunately for me, I could never reach > the owners of the houses I looked at. You can find a > name on the Hennepin County website, but if the > address listed happens to be that of the vacant > building, you're usually out of luck. > > As for the homes owned by the city, they are almost > equally as difficult to obtain. I submitted an > application to purchase a house on 24th and Chicago, > and subsequently went through a six-month nightmare of > red-tape and horrendous customer service before being > denied because my rehab plan was not detailed enough. > > Finally, the question of how these buildings impact > the neighborhood was posed. Let me tell you: When I > moved into my home, there were 4 boarded buildings on > the block. (Plus 4 vacant lots.) It has been a > terrible burden on those who live here, because these > houses attract prostitutes and drug dealers, not to > mention litter and vandalism, and they keep the > property values of neighboring houses down. > Additionally, I personally feel that there is a sense > of community depression that comes from being > surrounded by these properties. > > Three of the four boarded houses on my block have now > been demolished. What an awesome feeling it is to > watch a turn-of-the-century home reduced to toothpicks > for want of a restoration-minded owner. It's terribly > sad, and in my opinion, wrong. I toured one of these > buildings a couple years ago, (MCDA was kind enough to > open it for at 9AM on a weekday morning for one > hour...) and it had a lot of potential. I wished I'd > had the $ to save it. (And MCDA connections, which > seem sadly necessary.) > > What a shame... > > Connie Nompelis > Ventura Village > Sliced out of Ward 6 by virtue of being CM > Zimmermann's neighbor - soon to embrace Ward 9 > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > _______________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
