Friday, January 31, 2014

City Council to vote on Edwards Brothers' Property at Feb. 3rd Meeting

As tradition dictates, there has been a last minute addition to the City Council's Feb. 3rd agenda. According to the Chronicle, a resolution to proceed with purchasing the 16.7 acre property for $12.8 million was added to the meeting agenda January 30th. From the article:

Discussion at the city council’s Sunday night caucus on Jan. 19 indicated that talks are taking place between the city and developers who might have an interest in purchasing the property from the city. One obstacle in those conversations is the fact that the university could still eventually exercise its right of eminent domain to acquire the property from a developer, even after purchasing it from the city. But that would require convincing a court that the expansion of the university’s athletic campus at that location would be in the public interest.
Gentle readers, what's your take on this? Do you think it would be smart for the city enter the real estate industry? I know Ann Arbor is different than Ypsilanti, but perhaps the Water Street property serves as a useful cautionary tale.

Previously:

Should the City buy the Edwards Bros. Property?
Edwards Brothers Malloy and Shinola

1 comment:

  1. The link to the public version of the resolution is here

    http://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1653780&GUID=D2FA3040-6E92-45AB-936C-DBFAE363116E&Options=&Search=

    It's Monday at 1:15 p.m. and the full text of the resolution is not yet online.

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