In a message dated 3/25/03 1:18:56 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << I'm glad to see a few folks are thinking beyond their present chronological status. It was only a few years ago that this neighborhood turned down development of a senior citizen complex at 47th and Warrington, in favor of a restaurant. (It would generate too much traffic, it wouldn't fit with the existing architecture, it would harm the long-range development of Baltimore Ave.) >>
Hi, Fred, I think it was a little more complex than that. First, one former neighbor tried to ramrod things through and force the Sr. apts., the UC New School and Abbraccio WITH a liquor license to all find a way, amongst themselves, to share the SAME space (probably many laws against a grade school and an alcohol-selling restaurant being together!). Then Cedar Park Neighbors had each group make a presentation, and we asked them some to-the-point financial questions. The school just kept telling us how wonderful they were, but they had no numbers and no financial plan; the Sr. apts. provider explained that he'd be looking for city and state grants and loans, and if he didn't get them he wouldn't build; and Roger Harman explained his, Vincent's & Duane's personal finances and their willingness to put everything they had on the line, personally, for Abbraccio. They sounded like the best bet - and a "lively" use for a commercial space, too. We suggested that the Sr. apts. provider could buy another building in the area and rehab it, rather than use a space with commercial zoning for yet another apartment building. The builders of Abbraccio also offered to pay market value for the land - the school did not, and I forget if the Sr. apts. builder did, but he would have been using city and state money, so he wouldn't really have been paying market value. Soon afterwards, there was a major leak problem in a building the Sr. apts. provider has at 48th & Chester, and he was not very quick to make repairs and had some unhappy tenants, somewhat tarnishing his reputation as a white knight. Maybe what we need is a group of neighbors to get together and try to buy a couple of large apartment buildings with elevators, buildings which can be made to accommodate seniors - though at this time we'd be competing with the USP/ Fannie Mae/ Penn partnership, so I'm not sure it would be easy to be the top bidder. Is anyone interested in investing in this sort of arrangement? Melani Lamond ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
