Sometimes, success is hearing “no”.
An assessment was recently completed on a former nursing home/youth center in Baudette, as the community there had thoughts of potential reuse for multi-family housing.
NMF assisted in funding part of this assessment through a $5,000 grant from our Housing program.
But while the assessment was done on time and within the budget, the final recommendation is to “divest” – or move on – from this particular building. The building has been vacant for years, and the cost to gut and rebuild the 15,000-square-foot facility was projected to be over $4 million.
“While this news is disappointing, it does bring clarity to the future of this property,” the City of Baudette reported in its final grant report to NMF. “The property is 2.6 acres and presents a unique opportunity to meet the community’s housing needs if it were cleared for redevelopment.
“Community partners are now exploring a purchase-demo project, where the blighted structure would be cleared to make room for new housing development.”
So, while the future of the building itself is not positive, the City of Baudette now has a clearer picture of what can be accomplished in that location.
“While it’s disappointing to learn that it’s not financially feasible to reinvest in the current building, we believe this information will allow the
City of Baudette and its partners to be proactive and put together resources to utilize this site to meet the community’s housing needs,” the city reported.
Baudette expressed appreciation for the NMF funding that allowed the assessment to be accomplished, and speculated that there could be further partnerships ahead as this project evolves.
“We anticipate that this site will be cleared and opened up in the coming years for new housing development,” the grant report stated. “It’s too early to identify how the site will be used, but if the site is cleared, it is large enough to accommodate eight new single-family units or a multi-family property of up to 24 units.”
