With the demolition on August 4 of a condemned, burned out Northside house Minneapolis is beginning an accelerated effort to improve neighborhood livability and encourage investment by demolishing the vacant and boarded properties that are unrecoverable and the most detrimental to neighborhoods. The demolition work is one way Minneapolis and its partners are working collaboratively to stabilize and secure neighborhoods, especially in areas hard hit by foreclosures.
The City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County staff are doing careful evaluation of vacant and boarded properties to identify properties that are the strongest candidates for demolition. In some cases, vacant and boarded buildings are more than an eyesore; they can decrease the security of a neighborhood and even pose a public safety threat. Many properties also have structural problems that would prohibit them from ever being rehabilitated into quality housing.
This year Minneapolis is able to enhance its ongoing work to remove blighted properties by using an additional $1.25 million in funding provided by Hennepin County. In an average year, Minneapolis carries out about 50 tear-downs. This year, the additional funding will allow for the demolition of at least 50 additional properties. The Hennepin County funding is geared toward Northside neighborhoods.
"Hennepin County is working with a lot of partners to improve the quality of life on the Northside and all over the county," said Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein. "This is just a small part of that effort - but it will hopefully make a big difference for those living nearby."
Mike Christenson, Director of the Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) said, "The property, after the house is demolished, often remains in the hands of the property owner, and in all cases the City aggressively engages with external partners to restore the communities and a healthy housing market in North Minneapolis."
CPED has a five-point strategy to restore a healthy Northside housing market that addresses foreclosures and focuses on prevention, rehabilitation and removal of boarded and vacant properties. Work also focuses on the promotion of reinvestment in neighborhoods, the retention of residents and ways to attract a healthy mix of stable residents. As part of that work, the City has increased funding for the Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program and coordinates closely with nonprofit partners to quickly acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed or boarded and vacant properties to get them back in the hands of stable homeowners when possible.
Through the program that will remove more than 50 properties, a maintenance plan has been put in place to guarantee that the vacant lots will be well-maintained once the structures are removed. Each lot will be graded and seeded for grass, and city staff will inspect the properties weekly for the next year to ensure they are well maintained by the owners. If there are violations related to rubbish, snow, grass, and weeds, orders will be issued that allow city contractors to perform the cleanup work at the property owner's expense.