The Common Council has chosen to accept the application to lift the Reverter Clause on 34 Furnace Street, here in Kingston.Back in 2005, the city sold this property through the surplus property bid process. Henry Valencia was the preferred bidder and has since invested a great deal to get the place up to code.
It may not be beautiful, bit its a far cry from the dilapidated shell that he bid on. He now wants to sell it to his brother who has obtained a mortgage from Ulster Savings Bank. Good for him!
The reverter clause is a tool the Council uses to insure that the winning bidder of a surplus property achieves the scheduled repairs that entice the councilmen to award he/she the house.
Shirley Whitlock was thrilled at the thought that the ownership transfer would possibly push the project along since it had stalled for a while. She said: "The baby steps we are taking to make mid-town better shouldn't be delayed by city made issues."I would have to agree and I add my thanks to USB for believing in Mr Valencia and providing the additional construction/purchase money to finish this job.
2 comments:
I don't understand. The rules say you have to get a building permit to address the problems and close it out with a CO within a certain time frame. In the application, it asks about ones financial backing. Now after four years, how come the City has not taken any action? Maybe he should take a loan out to fix the property before he sells it. He bidded $85K for the property that was in bad shape, well maybe he should have bidded $55K. I think you have these rules for selective enforcement. It is not fair for the others who bided on the property based on those conditions. Maybe surplus properties are a pet peeve of mine, but I hate when people bid on properties based on speculation and don't come throught and the City does nothing but bail them out, just like the other Furnace Street property down the road that is going to become tax exempted. Thank you for the information and I hope you vote no and tell him to fix the property or else the City will.
The Valencia Brothers did get the proper permits and secured a loan to make the serious repairs. The building does meet the minimum requirements. The goal now is to get the property to the next level and help in the effort to gentrify the neighborhood. Heaven help us.
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