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Saturday, February 19, 2011
Mea Culpa
1:39 PM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Mea Culpa
In a past posting, this blogger stuck it to Urban Homeworks on how they were handling the renovation of their quadroplex on 172X Emerson Avenue North. As I am well known for, I made some controversial comments. In this particular case, those comments were fired off by a twitchy trigger finger.
Several people from UHW reached out to persuade me to see the renovation project in a different light. I was invited to the site, and met with Jonathan Lundberg, site supervisor. As it turns out, I had met Jon in the past at the Glengale Park beautification project. He’s one of my neighbors, and I could walk to his house in about 2 minutes.
He showed me around the site, answered questions, but more importantly; he emphatically explained everything UHW was doing to renovate the property. As we toured the site, it was clear to me that progress was in fact being made towards renovation. Base infrastructure components had been addressed. Additionally, the property had been gutted to the studs while still preserving the core wood-work. I found this to be satisfactory, as I had previously interpreted the action of lead abatement to be synonymous with the act of purging all woodwork and glasswork. When asked about an ETA to completion, Jon expressed that sometime mid-summer is when we can expect to see the project completed. Taking that detail into consideration, UHW has barely had ownership of the property for a year. It had previously been owned by a bank. That detail alone sunk my battleship from the past posting.
Jon went on to explain how UHW was not going to flip the property once rehabbed. They plan to rent it out, and based on Jon’s comments it would appear they have high standards in terms of tenant conduct. I found this to be a relief. As we wrapped up our meeting, I apologized to Jon for my harsh assessment of UHW’s handling of the renovation project on my last blog posting of the subject. I have changed my position on this subject.
As for the previous post about Urban Homeworks; I’m going to leave it up. I think it’s important to for people to see how events unfolded in cyberspace. Also, all of my comments and all the other comments by other bloggers will remain posted for the same reason. Clearly I was wrong, and I am man enough to publicly admit I made a mistake.
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6 comments:
I would be interested to know what they paid for the property and how much the are putting in to it. I would bet my bottom dollar that they have almost unlimited "free" funds to work with, which to me means they are playing on an unlevel playing field as against any private developers.
Soooo. Twin City Land Bank did NOT purchase this property from a private developer for $20,000 more than they paid for it, then turned around and sold it to Urban Homeworks? And Urban Homeworks is not using hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to rehab this home so they can rent it exclusively to very poor people, thereby continuing the city's official policy of concentrating poverty in North Minneapolis? I can believe Inquisition would drink the Kool-Aid.
@ Anon 4:10,
I am most certainly NOT drinking anybody's Kool-Aid. But since you put it that way, it really doesn't matter if I change my view on things now does it? Because I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't.
I meant to write I CAN'T believe II would drink the Kool-Aid. But in any case, a low blow, and I take it back. You obviously have integrity. I am sure UH is doing a good quality rehab. But I have 3 problems with it. #1 it was already in the hands of a good rehabber who could have rented it at market rates and to buy it away from someone like that goes against the purpose of these non-profits. #2 now it can only be rented to the poorest of people, concentrating poverty. #3 my tax dollars are going to this. Oh, and I guess I have a #4 - there is not a single thing the city is doing to promote owner occupancy. Only non-profit rehabs and concentrated poverty.
Well, the poor have to live somewhere, right? Maybe we should have the government build some highrises, so we can keep our eyes and ears on the poor! Where should the poor live, huh???? Instead of giving these non profits all of this wasted free money, I think "rent stamps", like food stamps is the way to go. That way the poor can choose exactly where they want to live - even in the burbs!
THANK YOU!! This is a much better look at Urban Homeworks than the last post. They are doing a great job in NoMi! Let's keep supporting them!
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