When the development plan was first presented to the planning commission it was under the pretense that the developer at the time who owned the property, Justin Johnson, would develop it as presented. After that, JJ sold the property to Tre who got private investors. When the SF City Council approved the open ended, interest free loan of $500K for demolition, Tre, once again, seemed to lie about the development plan. The shcity council approved the expense to taxpayers and now Tre are saying there is no plan, because they have no money. May I suggest a SF Heroes garden for the space?! Just like the Arc of Dreams, it would be a game changer for 18th and Minnesota.
Like the Dems in Congress, I ask the CC, what the Hell are you doing?!
UPDATE: Me wonders if the mayor bailed on this to remove his name from the project if it comes to fruition after he leaves office? Why is that important? Because there are rumors he may have conflicts with some people brokering the deal. If the Development Foundation and Chamber are able to sucker voters into this, since Paul will be out of office he can only hope the conflict flies under the radar. I know that is a stretch, because most insiders at city hall tell me he ‘just gave up’ after the extra penny tax got voted down, but I still know how this guy operates. He has made lots of $$$ being mayor, and I ain’t talking about his salary.
“I made a commitment to myself and to the community when I took office that I will not hand the next administration a half-baked anything that’s gonna put them in turd alley … I had an initiative that was left to me as a challenge, and I don’t want to do that to another mayor,” TenHaken said.
Well, Paul, we have been eating your turd sandwiches for 7 years, and to be honest with you, it ain’t working with my Keto.
Read the article, there is so much defeatism you kinda feel bad for the angry bird running our city. Poops was never going to get a convention center across the finish line because he hasn’t put anything across the finish line, nothing. He got handed an admin building with bad plumbing, and instead of making the contractor pay, he rolled over like a dog, same thing with the Midco, contractor screwed up, we paid. Bunker ramp, could have pulled out of the deal with a small fine, but rolled with it anyway and blamed Huether (reminds you of the guy in DC right now, all my bad decisions are the last guy’s fault.) Just admit it already Paul, you weren’t cut out to be mayor. No one will fault you for that, you just are not cut from a cloth that would understand. You ran a successful web design business overcharging your clients for websites that were produced using software (that anyone can buy) to design. I had someone tell me they charged him $5,000 for a simple website he could have created on his own for $199 in web development software. Paul, you are a fraud, and no surprise you are bailing on this. You bail on everything. Why not buy back your company and do what you are good at, screwing peeps over for overpriced websites a 7 year old could create.
But I have to admit, I was happy he dropped this idea, like he did with public art, mentorship, Lenin’s tomb at the zoo, covid, transparency, equal rights, 1st Amendment rights, and the list goes on. The only thing this guy has finished is a Mountain Dew. And that is all we need to know.
The development concept still is being finalized. When it was presented to City Hall a year ago, it included a mixed-use concept with residential above and Tre Ministries among the lower-level occupants, along with opportunity for other commercial tenants.
A final determination for the overall site design hasn’t been made and will depend in part on financing.
The site demolition was funded with support from the city of Sioux Falls. The city has a $500,000 deferred loan at zero interest available to Tre Ministries that allowed the site to be prepped for construction.
The remaining development will depend largely on donations.
As I understand it Tre got a gift or loan from some ‘corn’ folks to buy the property, then the city gifted $500K to tear down the property (0% interest deferred loan) in order to move forward with the project, now they are saying they don’t have enough money to proceed? WTF?
So did the council and administration KNOW in advance that they didn’t have a plan BEFORE they gifted this money? If they don’t even have money to build the place how the heck do you suppose they will pay us the $500K back!?
I TOLD SEVERAL COUNCILORS TO VOTE AGAINST THIS LOAN. I felt the organization was a little shady in what they planned to do, and I was right.
Suckered again by prosperity gospel folks, but no surprise when Pastor Poops is their main advocate, and I bet he knew they didn’t have a plan and hid it from the council. If I was the city council I would declare breech of contract and make them pay the $500K back immediately. Then they can sit on the empty lot as long as they want. We have to stop subsidizing religious organizations like The Dud House who is connected to a church worth BILLIONS and a SD Diocese that spent $16 million to restore the Cathedral. They have the money, and even if they didn’t, taxpayers shouldn’t be funding religious organizations they should be funding a mission. If we need more affordable housing for young folks, build it! If we need more job training opportunities in Sioux Falls, let’s fund it, but we have to realize anyone can accomplish anything with determination and hard work, the Bible is just a nice book to read once in awhile.
The top 4 projects were either paid for by taxpayers or patients, and none of these projects will produce property tax revenue. I have often said the building permits need to be split-up between commercial, housing, institutional non-profit and government and show us what the private sector is really doing. It still puzzles me that you can boast about spending our tax and healthcare dollars and spin it into some big statement on growth. When non-profits and government are spending more on development then the private sector, you got problems. Then there is all the grift in the form of tax rebates and TIF’s for the private developers. All $1 Billion in building permits means to me is my taxes and healthcare costs are going up.
UPDATE: A city official told me this proposal was purely administrative and the council had little to do with this idea.How can the mayor authorize funds that are Federal housing grants at 0% interest? Good question. The council controls the purse and they need to put their foot down on this one and base the interest rate on income.
So the city has decided to create a whole new set of grifters, historic home owners;
The City’s Historic Preservation Loan Program offers a zero-interest loan to homeowners who live in residential historic districts or have an individually listed property on the National Register of Historic Places. The goal of the loan program is to help homeowners restore historic properties.
Don’t get me wrong, as you know I am a gigantic proponent of Community Development loans as I was once a recipient, and I have suggested to city council over the past decade to ramp up the program and have city employees engage homeowners in lower income neighborhoods. Former councilor Janet Brekke actually tried to get some legislation passed that would offer a pilot program doing just this and she was told to pound sand by not only City Hall but her fellow councilors.
Just drive around Whittier and Pettigrew and you will find that a large percentage of these properties need repair and this is where our community development could step in AND SHOULD.
I have a feeling a certain grifter who has received thousands of dollars from city coffers for his ‘historic projects’ pushed for this. One grift just isn’t enough for this guy.
I don’t have a problem with giving these people actual loans, I believe historic homes need to be preserved, but a 0% interest rate? Really? While most people who own these homes are wealthy and own multiple properties we literally have homes falling apart in these other neighborhoods, why not a 0% interest rate for these folks? Why does the mayor dislike poor people so much?
Welcome to ‘Grift Falls’ where the wealthy get to play with our money and pay no returns. I encourage the council to get involved and change the interest rate based on income, like MOST community development loans work (I think I paid a 2% rate, but could have avoided paying any of it back until the home sells). In other words, many of these folks won’t even make one payment back to the coffers and wait until they croak or sell before we get our money back.
l3wis 