Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning & Development Services

 

TO:

David L. Corliss, City Manager

 

FROM:

Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager

 

CC:

Scott McCullough, Director Planning & Development Services

 

Date:

December 28, 2010

 

RE:

1313 Haskell

 

 

Background

On October 19th, 2010 staff informed the Commission that Mr. Seibel, then owner of 1313 Haskell, had not successfully fulfilled his obligation in the repair/clean up of the fifteen items identified within Resolution No. 6885 and that it was staff’s opinion that the demolition order outlined in the resolution should be completed.

 

Additionally, the Commission was informed that there was a substantial development that staff had recently become aware of that involved Mr. Seibel coming to the decision to sell the property to the ownership group, Haskell Row Partners, which is led by James Grauerholz and Michael Almon.   Staff told the Commission that Mr. Grauerholz was in attendance to provide additional information regarding the contract for sale and would be able to answer any questions that the Commission may have regarding this development. 

 

Mr. Grauerholz stated it was Haskell Row Partners’ intent to save the house if possible, however; he did acknowledge that demolition was still a potential outcome if they determined the rehabilitation of the house was not financially feasible.  Mr. Grauerholz stated he had a binding contract for sale that Mr. Seibel had signed and that he was asking for additional time to determine the full scope of the house’s deterioration.   The Commission agreed to defer the demolition order one week to enable Mr. Grauerholz and Mr. Almon more time to look at the feasibility of the rehabilitation.

 

On October 26, 2010, staff presented an update to the Commission informing them that staff met with Mr. Grauerholz, Mr. Almon, and their colleagues on October 21st to complete an interior inspection of the structures to determine the severity of the deterioration. It was acknowledged that a complete cost analysis for the rehab may take additional time which would ultimately determine if the group would proceed with attempting to save the house.  A major obstacle was the amount of Mr. Seibel’s personal items stored throughout the first floor of the house which prevented easy access to complete a full cost estimate. Due to these circumstances, staff recommended that the Commission grant Mr. Grauerholz and Mr. Almon 60 days to complete the contract for sale and determine if they would be able to rehab the house successfully. The Commission unanimously voted to grant Haskell Row Partners 60 days to purchase the property and come up with a plan to either remove or rehabilitate the structures.

 

Recent Events

In mid November, staff began to hear from Mr. Grauerholz that Mr. Seibel wanted to cancel the contract for sale.   For the next several weeks, staff was in weekly contact with Mr. Grauerholz and Mr. Almon as they continued to provide updates of their efforts to purchase the property.

 

On December 23rd, staff was informed by Mr. Almon that Haskell Row Partners completed the purchase of the property.  The resistance to the sale by Mr. Seibel was unforeseen, essentially putting the project in the same place it was on October 19, 2010 in that Haskell Row Partners just assumed control of the property.

 

On December 28th, Mr. Grauerholz contacted staff to discuss the purchase of the property.  Mr. Grauerholz reiterated to staff that Haskell Row Partners spent the vast majority of their time and resources during the last two months on attempting to complete the purchase of the property as well as attempting to have Mr. Seibel remove all of his personal belongings from within the house and detached garage. He believes the challenging part is over and the ownership group can now focus on moving forward with the rehabilitation. 

 

Mr. Grauerholz believes they may be contractually obligated to grant Mr. Seibel 30 days to remove his personal belongings. Once that time has elapsed, the ownership group will then turn their attention to the rehabilitation of the house.  He and other ownership members will be meeting during the evening of the 28th to discuss their plan of action that will be presented to the City Commission on January 4, 2011. Soon after, he anticipates the ownership group will meet with staff to create a short list of items that need to be completed promptly to make the house safe. 

 

Staff’s Recommendation

Receive this staff update and the update from Haskell Row Partners’ ownership members at the City Commission meeting.  Staff assumes the new owners will need time to determine the best course of action and recommends deferring the demolition order for 60 days to permit the owners to make substantial progress on the items outlined in Resolution No. 6885 or to demolish the building if found to be necessary.