This, the corner lot of Ninth and Jackson, is one of three city-owned lots the council has been asked to make available to sell or give away.
Two parties have declared their interest in obtaining three lots owned by the City of Albany near the corner of Ninth Avenue and Jackson Steet. And I’m trying to learn why the city owns these properties in the first place.
Two of the lots, at 817 Jackson St. and 503 Ninth Ave. S.E., were occupied as designated homeless camping sites until the city closed them and fenced them off on Aug. 29. The third is two addresses east at 519 Ninth. All three are vacant.
On Monday, Bill Van Vleet of Van Vleet Meat and Food Service told the city council his company would like to purchase the properties. The business, based across Jackson Street, has expanded and needs more room.
On Wednesday, Jessica Becker of Albany Helping Hands asked the council to declare the properties surplus so the city can dispose of them. Helping Hands has a dream of building a three-story apartment complex west of its homeless shelter along Ninth Avenue in order to house people who otherwise would become homeless.
If the council follows through, it will then face the choice of selling the land to help a business thrive or giving the property away for construction of subsidized housing.
For housing, the city’s vacant lots would first have to be rezoned. All are now zoned “light industrial,” a designation that covers the entire block, including two privately owned houses, five houses owned by Helping Hands, and the shelter itself.
How did the city get its hands on three of the lots in that block? I went to the Linn County Clerk’s Office to find out.
The lot at 817 Jackson was taken by Linn County in a tax foreclosure in January 1987. The county sold it to Randy Tripp in 1989 for $1,000. He sold it to the city in June 1990 for $6,000.
The other two lots were owned by Lorraine and Ken Carter, who sold them both to the city in October 1990 for $24,640.
But why did the city spend money to acquire those lots? It’s been 34 years, and former City Manager Steve Bryant, now retired in Bend, can’t remember the details.
“I pulled up Google maps to refresh my memory,” Bryant told me via email. “All I can really recall is that the properties were pretty run down and we had had some issues there. We may have even had a house or two demolished.”
He speculated that the purchases might have been related to the idea of building a pedestrian bridge across the railroad tracks from Jackson Street to Swanson Park, an idea that got nowhere. Or perhaps the purchases were related to the city’s and ODOT’s project, then in the works, to build the Pacific Boulevard and Ninth Avenue couplet.
The reason for the purchases may remain cloaked in mystery. But now the council faces a dilemma: What to do with these lots. (hh)
This is a drawing of potential apartments on Ninth Avenue the Helping Hands shelter hopes to build.
Van Vleet Meat and Food Service is across Jackson Street from lots the company wants to buy from the city.
What to do with these city-owned lots?
This, the corner lot of Ninth and Jackson, is one of three city-owned lots the council has been asked to make available to sell or give away.
Two parties have declared their interest in obtaining three lots owned by the City of Albany near the corner of Ninth Avenue and Jackson Steet. And I’m trying to learn why the city owns these properties in the first place.
Two of the lots, at 817 Jackson St. and 503 Ninth Ave. S.E., were occupied as designated homeless camping sites until the city closed them and fenced them off on Aug. 29. The third is two addresses east at 519 Ninth. All three are vacant.
On Monday, Bill Van Vleet of Van Vleet Meat and Food Service told the city council his company would like to purchase the properties. The business, based across Jackson Street, has expanded and needs more room.
On Wednesday, Jessica Becker of Albany Helping Hands asked the council to declare the properties surplus so the city can dispose of them. Helping Hands has a dream of building a three-story apartment complex west of its homeless shelter along Ninth Avenue in order to house people who otherwise would become homeless.
If the council follows through, it will then face the choice of selling the land to help a business thrive or giving the property away for construction of subsidized housing.
For housing, the city’s vacant lots would first have to be rezoned. All are now zoned “light industrial,” a designation that covers the entire block, including two privately owned houses, five houses owned by Helping Hands, and the shelter itself.
How did the city get its hands on three of the lots in that block? I went to the Linn County Clerk’s Office to find out.
The lot at 817 Jackson was taken by Linn County in a tax foreclosure in January 1987. The county sold it to Randy Tripp in 1989 for $1,000. He sold it to the city in June 1990 for $6,000.
The other two lots were owned by Lorraine and Ken Carter, who sold them both to the city in October 1990 for $24,640.
But why did the city spend money to acquire those lots? It’s been 34 years, and former City Manager Steve Bryant, now retired in Bend, can’t remember the details.
“I pulled up Google maps to refresh my memory,” Bryant told me via email. “All I can really recall is that the properties were pretty run down and we had had some issues there. We may have even had a house or two demolished.”
He speculated that the purchases might have been related to the idea of building a pedestrian bridge across the railroad tracks from Jackson Street to Swanson Park, an idea that got nowhere. Or perhaps the purchases were related to the city’s and ODOT’s project, then in the works, to build the Pacific Boulevard and Ninth Avenue couplet.
The reason for the purchases may remain cloaked in mystery. But now the council faces a dilemma: What to do with these lots. (hh)
This is a drawing of potential apartments on Ninth Avenue the Helping Hands shelter hopes to build.
Van Vleet Meat and Food Service is across Jackson Street from lots the company wants to buy from the city.
Tags: apartments, city lots, homless shelter, industrial zoning, Ninth and Jackson, Van Vleet Meat