[Southsider2k12]

http://www.michigancityin.com/articles/200.../13/news/n2.txt

City may soon acquire Blocksom property
By Amanda Haverstick, The News-Dispatch

The Michigan City Redevelopment Commission is plugging away at acquiring property along the Trail Creek Corridor.

Commission attorney Michael Bergerson said Monday negotiations with the Blocksom property have reopened, with parties on both sides having met on several occasions.

“I would hope that, given the pace of negotiations and level of cooperation that we have seen on both sides, we may be in a position to call a special meeting between now and our April meeting, or at our April meeting be able to make a favorable recommendation related to the status of litigation, ongoing development and ultimately the relocation of that site,” Bergerson said. “This would be a tremendous accomplishment.”

City planners have been trying for three years to purchase the nine-acre Blocksom site and relocate the factory somewhere else in Michigan City.

The city and Blocksom negotiated purchase of the property, but when an agreement couldn't be reached, the city threatened to use eminent domain to acquire it.

Blocksom filed a lawsuit against the city in October 2005 challenging the constitutionality of the state's eminent domain statute.

The city also sued Blocksom for the right to take soil borings on the property to test for contamination.

Bergerson said he expects closing on the Michigan Township Trustee's office, 531 Michigan Blvd., to take place within the next two weeks.

“I'm sure in the next 10 days that acquisition will take place,” Bergerson said. “They have closed on the building (at 2601 E. Michigan Blvd.) and will be able to move as soon as they close with us.”

The commission voted Monday to demolish the structure after the May primary.

“It's my understanding (City Planner John Pugh) wants us to demolish the premises,” Bergerson said. “I believe that site is a polling place. You may not want to interrupt that process until after the primary election.”

The city, Bergerson said, also made an offer for another property at 503 Michigan Blvd., but received a counteroffer substantially in excess of the appraised value.

“I indicated to the Realtor that unless the owner was willing to make some further reductions ... we may not be interested in it,” Bergerson said. “At this point, negotiations have ended there.”

Two other properties the city is pursuing - the Hoosier Ice and Coal property, 748 E. Michigan Blvd. and Weber Sign, 730 E. Eighth St., are still in litigation.

In other business, the commission granted Chicago developer Bob Bicek and Brewery building owner Ken Fryar another 30 days to come to an agreement on possession of the site. In February, the commission ordered that Bicek must have the title to the property.

“We still have some issues to work out,” Fryar said. “It could go one way or the other very soon.”

“There's a lot of things that had to be put together,” Bicek said. “We just could not get it all done by this meeting.”

Contact reporter Amanda Haverstick at ahaverstick@thenewsdispatch.com.
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Developments

€ The city is negotiating with Blocksom and may be close to acquiring the property along Trail Creek.

€ The city should close on the Michigan Township Trustee's office, 531 Michigan Blvd., within the next two weeks.

€ The city will demolish the township office after the May primary.

€ Developer Bob Bicek and Ken Fryar, owner of the Brewery building, were given another 30 days to come to an agreement.

[Max Main]

Now is when we have to be on our hind feet as loudly as possible keeping this property out of private hands and it can be a cornerstone of development--UNLESS it is handed over to some private party who will probably create some kind of enclave that will hinder development.

[Southsider2k12]

I am going to disagree with you there. I think the private sector is the ONLY way we get a real development done on the north end. We have waited for way too long for the government to put together an idea that everyone can get behind, let alone to actually do something. I still don't get why the City is so intent on aquiring all of the property, when no one has any idea what they are going to do with it when they get it. How long have we been sitting on the Memorial Hospital property for example?

Personally I am a champion of the private sector whenever possible, because they have one thing that ensures they will try to do things right the first time, and that is profit motive. That might be a dirty word for some, but when it comes to government dealings, they have no incentive to do things as effeciently as possible, because their jobs don't depend on how effecient they run. What our local government needs to do is come up with a unifying vision for the north end, then we can identify people to fill that dream without spending our tax money. Sure there is going to be some kind of a development, but that is the kind of thing that is going to be key to growth in that region of town. Even if we have a great "green" idea, there has to be a draw for someone to build it. If we envision that area as a riverwalk ala Marion IN or San Antonio TX, we could find someone interested in building it if we gave them rights to building condos on the other side of the Boulevard. (that idea being strictly as an example), There are other ideas out there that we could look in, but we have to come to a concensus for what we want, before we can start to explore that kind of stuff.

[Max Main]

It makes NO sense to give away this prperty so someone can make some money today. The surrounding area will stay as it in, if that happens. The only thing that makes sense is to have a lakefront park area to make the surrounding much larger area more valuable. The surrounding area will have to be developed by private concerns, but the central core must not be.

If the core is gone, then the surrounding area will not be developed.

Plus I do not trust private enterprise to develop anything for the long run interest of the families being raised here. Self-evident.

[Southsider2k12]

First of all City wouldn't give away anything. They would require the development that they deem fit, and in exchange for the developer making our idea reality, they get the rights to a for profit part of the project. That way instead of our tax dollars paying for a new project, private sector dollars pay for the project, and they assume all of the risk as well.

The central core of the project should be a public facility of some sort, but no one has actually stepped forward with a real plan for all of this as far as I have heard. They are out there spending our tax dollars on property which they have no plans for. They even threatended emminent domain against a profitable company to get ahold of this property, which just blows my mind. It would be one thing if this was the last piece to some grand project, but nobody has even said what exactly they want to do with it!

And finally it wouldn't be trusting the private sector to do something for us, it would be their obligation to do something in exchange for rights to whatever it is we decide to make as the money generator part of the project. These thing have to pay for themselves somehow, or you and I are paying for them. No one is going to come along and build us a big beautiful public facility for nothing. Even in Chicago where they had to sell the rights to the Millenium Park garages to pay for the park above it.

For too long we have had the completely wrong approach to the things we want done in MC. We keep hoping that someone will come along and do something we really like to the areas that are now vacant. All along we should have been taking charge of our own destiny and coming up with ideas for these areas, and selling them to developers. Until we change our image in other people's eyes, we are going to be viewed as a retail center. We have to take the steps to change that, because no one else can do so.

[Max Main]

bump

[RexKickass]

I am going to disagree with you there. I think the private sector is the ONLY way we get a real development done on the north end. We have waited for way too long for the government to put together an idea that everyone can get behind, let alone to actually do something. I still don't get why the City is so intent on aquiring all of the property, when no one has any idea what they are going to do with it when they get it. How long have we been sitting on the Memorial Hospital property for example?

Personally I am a champion of the private sector whenever possible, because they have one thing that ensures they will try to do things right the first time, and that is profit motive. That might be a dirty word for some, but when it comes to government dealings, they have no incentive to do things as effeciently as possible, because their jobs don't depend on how effecient they run. What our local government needs to do is come up with a unifying vision for the north end, then we can identify people to fill that dream without spending our tax money. Sure there is going to be some kind of a development, but that is the kind of thing that is going to be key to growth in that region of town. Even if we have a great "green" idea, there has to be a draw for someone to build it. If we envision that area as a riverwalk ala Marion IN or San Antonio TX, we could find someone interested in building it if we gave them rights to building condos on the other side of the Boulevard. (that idea being strictly as an example), There are other ideas out there that we could look in, but we have to come to a concensus for what we want, before we can start to explore that kind of stuff.

The problem with this is "redevelopment" deals turn out a lot of times to be shell games, where developers milk the city for cash and walk away richer while the city is left with empty lots and promises unfulfilled. Case in point: Asbury Park. It seems like a lot is going on out here in our "redevelopment" and some buildings and one street is actually developing. But condo projects are years behind schedule and still not ready to be lived in, two years after they were supposed to be done. The entire oceanfront is empty and the city's history has been mostly knocked down for projects that never materialized.

[Max Main]

as I have said elswhere, giving the land away to condo ppl will mean that the surrounding area will not get developed at all. Green core, good; no core, bad.

[Southsider2k12]

Yesterday's HA makes it sound like the framework for a deal is basically in place already.

http://heraldargus.com/archives/ha/display.php?id=373529

MICHIGAN CITY -- It appears Michigan City is nearing an agreement with a factory located on the banks of Trail Creek that has long stood in the way of the city’s plans for north-side redevelopment.

The pending agreement would keep Blocksom and Co., 428 E. 5th St., somewhere in the Michigan City area, city officials said.

“It’s extremely good news and it has the potential to be a historic initiative between the city and an employer for the betterment of our city,” Michigan City Redevelopment Commission attorney Michael Bergerson said.

Michigan City and Blocksom have been tied up in litigation the past two years, as the city had been preparing to acquire the land as a last resort through eminent domain. That decision came after a proposal by the city to relocate the 40-employee business to another site within the city for an undisclosed price fell short of Blocksom’s expectations. That offer, said Blocksom President Andy Swan in 2005, was only half what Blocksom wanted.

But according to Swan, there’s been a “real change of heart” among city officials, whom he said have adjusted their position to one more favorable to Blocksom.

Neither Swan nor Bergerson would elaborate on the details of discussions that have taken place the past two months. But the new plans are drawing more optimism from Swan, who said he resented earlier claims by Michigan City officials that his business was blighted.

“Let’s put all the pieces together. There’s still a lot of moving parts to the discussion,” Swan said.

It’s been generally agreed upon that Blocksom has held the upper hand from the start of negotiations, since the factory is located on highly sought-after land near Trail Creek. City officials consider the 11-acre area a centerpiece for residential, commercial and recreational redevelopment.

But Swan tried to deflect any notion his company holds a trump card.

“There are a lot of other areas for redevelopment. Our waterfront is probably attractive, but there is other property that is attractive the city has acquired,” he said.

Swan said he understands the city’s desire to claim ownership of the industrial land and demolish the buildings.

“I think condos or waterfront access is more important (to people) than manufacturing.”

[Max Main]

I would rather have blocksom there than condos stealing the waterfront. And there is a deal, but it is just gonna take a few days yet to leak out.