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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Not on their web page yet, but Tia Eweing sure did rip into Eason on the 5:00 news. Thank you channel 5 and Tia. Keep it up!!! |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 4:25 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The video is now on WNEM TV 5 . Good job Tia! Tomorrow at 5 pm is the continuation.
The key remark for me was when the attorney for CIG, after viewing the video of charles Young Jr , remarked that Young was not representing the City of Flint and had signed paperwork to be a partner of CIG. Young alleges there was a bid process and CIG did not meet the criteria. How can that be when Young, as the agent of the new entity Smith Village Development LLC, submitted to Metro Development the required documentation to be the contractor/builder.
In my opinion this lawsuit will cost the city more than payment to CIG. What about HUD repayments? |
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:50 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Everyone I have spoken to about the show remarked how tough Tia was with Greg Eason and they loved it. Now I find out the Bigwigs at Channel 5 believe Tia was too tough on Eason. People are tired of the media sucking up to politicians and want real answers.
My advice to Tia is to keep a copy of this series for when you get a shot at a bigger market. It is golden! |
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:11 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:13 pm |
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ins&out
F L I N T O I D
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| Curry is actually the one who tipped Tia & channel 5 to the story... Wait until they reveal that 80% of the funds for the first 25 homes is being sent to Indiana and Champion Inc. & Young is the sole purchaser of all materials on the project leaving subs with no profit margin. |
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:31 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
Everyone I have spoken to about the show remarked how tough Tia was with Greg Eason and they loved it. Now I find out the Bigwigs at Channel 5 believe Tia was too tough on Eason. People are tired of the media sucking up to politicians and want real answers.
My advice to Tia is to keep a copy of this series for when you get a shot at a bigger market. It is golden!
What are they afraid of, losing their tax bereaks for the Flint studio? |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:27 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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quote:
ins&out schreef:
Curry is actually the one who tipped Tia & channel 5 to the story... Wait until they reveal that 80% of the funds for the first 25 homes is being sent to Indiana and Champion Inc. & Young is the sole purchaser of all materials on the project leaving subs with no profit margin.
Word on the street for a long time was that Champion had at least a $2 million contract.
Weren't the homes built on Chippewa modulars too, but from a different company. I loved the ranch home and it was far more spacious than these homes will be. They even cost less. |
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:48 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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I emailed Tia Ewing about the post here that the wheels at channel 5 thought she was too hard on Eason. With her permission, here is her reply.
"You can post this on my behalf...just let them know this was based on an e-mail conversation.
Was I hard in my story on people? Yes. I won't apologize for that, because innocent disadvantaged people are the ones who will suffer. What about the people who wanted to live in Flint in a brand new home...that never thought it would happen? A home built in the city, not Indiana...from the ground up! It is our role as media to be tough. Poltical figures can be friends of ours and such. However, when it's time to advocate for the people it isn't about that, it's about doing what's right. I grew up poor and disadvantaged so I know the strain and pain "the little guys" feel. I follow my heart and in this series that's what I am doing, I can't apologize or soften up because I fight for the people!
-Tia" |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:03 am |
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ins&out
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
quote:
ins&out schreef:
Curry is actually the one who tipped Tia & channel 5 to the story... Wait until they reveal that 80% of the funds for the first 25 homes is being sent to Indiana and Champion Inc. & Young is the sole purchaser of all materials on the project leaving subs with no profit margin.
Word on the street for a long time was that Champion had at least a $2 million contract.
Weren't the homes built on Chippewa modulars too, but from a different company. I loved the ranch home and it was far more spacious than these homes will be. They even cost less.
Close, its $100k per home so 2.5mill. Remember the budget is roughly $135k per build. Many have said $180 per build which is not true after you subtracted grids, titles, admin fees, streets etc. |
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:38 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The $180 k figure came from City of Flint documents that were online. Does your figure include garages, landscaping, fences and patos? Or have they lowered the cost of the homes?
Also this figure was used publicly in meetings by the administration. |
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:40 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In March of this year, the developer records showed $195 k per house. They were to have central air, copper plumbing and other amenities.
Is the use of modulars lowereing the cost of the homes and have the amenities changed. You cannot remove the development costs of a home to attempt to make the cost of the home more palatable o Flint taxpayers. It is all coming out of the same pool of money.
Years later, city of Flint still trying to create Smith Village subdivision
Published: Sunday, March 06, 2011, 4:28 PM Updated: Monday, March 07, 2011, 9:57 AM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
View full sizeMatt Dixon | The Flint JournalAfter a decade of little progress, Smith Village now consists of mostly vacant lots and a few homes on Root Street in Flint. Using $16 million, Flint officials plan to build 80 houses here in the only major residential building project in Genesee County this year.
FLINT, Michigan — The failed Smith Village project started 13 years ago with good intentions and uplifting promises: luxury homes and a revitalized neighborhood in the heart of the city of Flint.
But it never happened, apart from a lonely row of six homes built just off North Saginaw Street.
Now, the city is trying for a do-over. Same good intentions and same promises, but hoping for a different outcome.
The “new” Smith Village is expected to be the only new subdivision built this year in all of Genesee County — not surprising given the recession and depressed housing market.
Using federal grant money, at least 83 new three- and four-bedroom homes are planned for the mostly vacant neighborhood just north of downtown Flint and across Saginaw Street from University Park Estates.
The question is: Will anyone buy them?
“With this particular housing market, I think that’s something you always have to be concerned with,” said Doug Weiland, executive director of the Genesee County Land Bank. “But ... when you look at
these particular houses, because they will be in the only real new subdivision, I think we’ll be drawing attention from people.”
The city and Land Bank are partnering to spend more than $16 million in federal grant money to finish the development, hailed as a charming community complete with new driveways, sidewalks, light posts, trees and newly paved streets.
At least half of the homes will be sold to low-income buyers and down-payment assistance will be available.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the subdivision will help meet demand for housing within walking distance of downtown Flint. A study by the Downtown Development Authority showed a need for more than 250 housing units in the greater downtown area, he said.
“The regional housing market is shifting and more students and professionals and seniors are looking for a downtown urban living environment,” he said. “The occupancy rates in all of downtown
illustrate this demand is real.”
But some say the problems that hindered Smith Village the first time around still exist — and might be even worse on the heels of a nationwide recession.
There’s a surplus of 27,000 homes in the county and “the last thing government should be doing is adding to the housing stock,” said Barry Simon, consultant with the Builders Association of Metro Flint.
Other communities have little to no new residential building going on. The city of Burton, for example, has had one residential new build permit so far this year. Flushing, Mt. Morris and Davison haven’t had any.
Throughout the county, newer subdivisions sit partially finished because of the local economy, Simon said.
"There’s no housing market. There’s absolutely zero housing market. It just does not exist,” he said. “Let’s get real: This is idiocy.”
Housing values have fallen more than 30 percent since 2005, Simon said, and nearly 7,000 properties are sliding into foreclosure.
Despite the skepticism, city officials are pressing forward with the project, in large part because Smith Village is more than just another new development. It’s another chance for the city to complete the government project, started in 1998 with a grant from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The city completed the nearby University Park with the grant funds, but didn’t sell the required number of homes to low-income families — which the city said it would do in the never developed Smith Village.
Over the years, city officials talked of restarting Smith Village, but nothing ever happened.
But now there’s an extra incentive. Unless the project is completed, the federal government is threatening to force the city to repay $1.3 million, some of the money originally given to the city for Smith Village. That’s money officials say the cash-strapped city can’t afford to pay.
Flint resident Chris Del Morone isn’t happy that a large portion of the city’s $25 million federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program phase two grant money is being spent on Smith Village.
“Money is being taken from other tracts of the city,” Del Morone told the Flint City Council recently.
With or without the feds’ ultimatum, officials said the new subdivision still makes sense for Flint.
“We can improve the core of the city,” City Administrator Gregory Eason said of the project. “There may be an opportunity for (city residents) to move into a better home that may not cost them more than what they’re living in right now.”
The first phase of the Smith Village plan is already under way, led by project developer Metro Community Development, a Flint-based nonprofit.
Officials hope to break ground in May, and have the first 43 houses built by December. The target end date is December 2012.
The development is being touted as “high-quality” homes with picturesque streetscapes, front porches and rear patios.
View full sizeMatt Dixon | The Flint JournalA sign for Smith Village stands in front of an empty lot on the corner of Williams Street and Saginaw Street in Flint. Smith Village is expected to be the only new subdivision in Genesee County this year. The project has been ongoing for more than a decade, and there's only a few houses that have been built.
Officials point to the success of University Park Estates, the 160-home subdivision started at the same time as Smith Village, as proof that the concept can work.
But University Park buyers got different incentives for moving into the subdivision than prospective Smith Village buyers will.
University Park homes were sold at market rate, but the homes were in a Renaissance Zone, meaning homeowners didn’t have to pay property taxes for 12 years.
Smith Village buyers, on the other hand, would not get the advantage of the Renaissance Zone, since it’s expiring next year. But the homes will be sold for a subsidized price, expected to be about $50,000 to $70,000, depending on the size — although the cost of building the new
subdivision equates to $195,000 per unit, according to the Metro
Community Development website
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“These homes are going to sell at very attractive prices,” Weiland said, adding that more than 1,000 homes were sold in Flint last year. “I recognize a lot of people are skeptical of these kinds of plans,
but this was always planned to be a companion to University Park.
“My expectation is Smith Village will be every bit as nice.” |
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In the first link the costs of the homes range from $160k to $185 k. This link appears to have been developed by the City of Flint.
to View ... - The New Smith Village Neighborhood | Flint, MI | Housing
The New Smith Village Neighborhood project is funded by the United States ..
http://newsmithvillage.com/partners.html - 10k - Cached - Similar pagesThe New Smith Village Neighborhood project is funded by the United States ...
http://newsmithvillage.com/partners.html - 10k - Cached - Similar pages
.
This second link shows what I believe to be one of the original redevelopment plans as it includes University Park . It shows 97 townhouses and 63 single family homes. It also addresses homes to be rehabilitated.
RM.NlO2 URBAN RENEWAL PLAN FOR THE SMITH ... - City of Flint
Pnoplzmy of DCED. H01 S.SAqiNAW ST. RM.NlO2. URBAN RENEWAL PLAN. FOR THE. SMITH VILLAGE URBAN RENEWAL AREA. City of Flint, Michigan ...
http://www.cityofflint.com/DCED/pdf/Smith_Village_Redevelopment_Plan.pdf -
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:43 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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News - Flint Housing Commission
Flint, MI 48506. Phone: (810) ... View and Download The Flint Housing Commission's ... We are now Proud Partner of the Smith Village Redevelopment Plan ...
http://www.flinthud.org/News.htm - 24k - Cached - Similar pages
Is Flint Housing commission still a partner? In this December 2010 plan, they were to cultivate buyers for low-income set-aside and down payment/closing cost assistance.
Genesee County Land Bank had the role of property acquisition, planning and processing, which may explain why land bank crews are removing trees, etc.
Additionally the proposed development costs of '83 high quality homes with an average of 1,650 square feet" is $ 16 million and the "Total Appraisal Gap Subsidy needed is $11,672,500.
These documents were developed by the City of Flint as the Project Sponsor.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:08 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Young was definitely surprised when Tia showed him the stop work order he sent to Urban Builders. I have been told that the company walked off when they were told they would not get paid and then Young fired them. That may be what he referred to when he asked Tia about the e-mail prior to the cease work. |
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:34 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Word is that Eason is being very vocal about his anger that this lawsuit surfaced. He has threatened to get even with whoever put it on the internet and says he knows who it is. Hey OOSL2 I guess that means you and I.
Got to be another of Eason's worst kept secrets. Just like all of the times he swore his staff to secrecy about development plans and then he announced them to some groups.
When Eason and Averyhardt had a sweetheart deal going, neither could keep it a secret. Then Eason wanted to blame everyone for "letting the cat out of the bag". Even the streets know who called Salem Housing, but Eason still blames the wrong people. |
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Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:11 pm |
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