Photo By John HoffOne day there was a house on Lyndale Ave. N. next to the mosque, and the next day--whoomph!--a big orange backhoe was scooping up pieces of rubble. I confirmed...
...the obvious with a workman who was present, helping to direct traffic so dump trucks could leave with the debris: the mosque was getting itself a parking lot expansion.
Speaking of parking lots...WORD ON THE STREET is 2123 6th St. N. was purchased by a private buyer, an entity which is NOT the city or county. It is rumored Kemps Ice Cream would like to acquire property next to its facility for purposes of parking lot or plant expansion. With North Minneapolis property hitting dirt-cheap prices not seen in decades, obviously some businesses and organizations are eying property for purposes of expansion. Say goodbye to some of that "affordable housing stock" which is part of the 4 North Side talking points.
However, I will say this: that house next to the mosque was a wreck. I'm not sorry to see it go. And the members of the mosque have been excellent neighbors.
But this still begs the question - with no adjacent mosque or other business/non-profit, WHO would like to purchase 2123 6th knowing that it might be demolished?
ReplyDeleteI hear the Kemps argument, and it is plausible.
But why haven't these mystery-people bought any of the other properties slated on this block?
2123 is in the middle of the street. It's not adjacent to anything other than occupied rentals.
And again, 2123 is the best-condition foreclosure on the block. Why not start with the burnt-out shell across the street...? Curious.
Well, true enough all THAT but 2123 is probably the cheapest property on the block. So that makes an argument to start with THAT property, right there. Also, do you know for sure the other properties on the block AREN'T being bought up?
ReplyDelete2123 caught your attention because it was (certainly still is) in danger of being demolished. But some entity might very well be buying up other properties. We just don't know. That's the h*** of it. WE JUST DON'T KNOW.
We could know what's going on with our neighborhood so much easier if the city and county could update their property information websites faster.
I hate rumors. So where did the one about Kemps come from? There's also been a rumor for years now that the City is going to make everything from Broadway up to 26th Ave. industrial and move us all out.
ReplyDeleteSaw an inspector attaching a big, orange Demolition sign to 2123 today. According to him, it's coming down soon, so if someone did buy it, they have some work to do - FAST.
I can't say where it came from so the same source will keep feeding me rumors which I can keep posting to this blog.
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