HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-15-16 Public Comment - K. Madin - Black OliveMy wife and I own 108 and 110 South Bozeman, just around the corner from
the proposed building site for Black and Olive. The two properties are B3
zoned.
In 2003 we bought, remodeled and improved both of these properties,
bringing them back from the crack-house rental status they enjoyed when
owned by the City and slated for conversion to a parking lot. The came on
the market because the neighborhood rose up against the scraping of those
buildings for much the same reason, I surmise, that they object to Black and
Olive. The houses are on the front line between commercial business
structures and single family homes and frankly, are a pleasant transition to
SFH's heading south..
If Black and Olive is approved as requested by the builder, it will erode our
commitment to keeping those two properties as historical
buildings. Because, after all, if buildings like Black and Olive are going to
creep into single family neighborhoods, outflanking our location to the south
and corroding the traditional sfh neighborhood feel, why shouldn't we just
cash in, look for a developer to scrape the two 1880 Victorians and put in
the biggest, slab-sided glass and steel apartment house that will fit? And
we'll make part of the deal the penthouse apartment for ourselves.. we still
get to live downtown.
Here's my biggest problem with the process of neighborhood meetings and
input with the city officials and the developer which all sounds
kumbayah. Everyone gets together and offers input.. except the developer
gets to withhold the details of his profit margin. (Ok,I know I am going to
sound like a communist here). But the developer's trump card (can't believe
that word has been so debased) is that he declares that he has to do it his
way or it isn't financially viable and doesn't have to share those numbers. It
might might well be possible to put in an apartment building that
would genuinely address neighborhood concerns AND is profitable. Just not
profitable enough for this developer. Without those numbers, neither the
neighborhood or City officials will ever know.
I do know this. If the project is denied, the property isn't going to tank in
value. Someone else will come along and find a use that is in synch with
both housing demand and neighborhood aesthetics. Maybe Mr. Halloran is
just the wrong guy for the job. If we are to believe that neighborhood input
genuinely can affect the process, then it must follow that it can affect the
process enough to deny the current proposal. Otherwise, this is all a sham
in which the developer's first proposal is intentionally more than he really
wants, so he can appear to have compromised and gotten exactly what he
wants.
I would sure like to see some independent analysis of the actual cost/profit
ratio. Mr. Halloran builds the place and pockets an unknown profit, part of
which is paid directly out of the "pockets" of the neighborhood in terms of
diminished values, both real and aesthetic.
Kent Madin
406-595-2310