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MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Land Bank is in contract to buy the house at 404 N. Sandusky St.
“We won’t close until it has been vacated,” Sam Filkins, land bank vice president, told land bank board members on Friday. “It will most likely have to be torn down.”
The house is the most recent structure the land bank has acquired in the same vicinity.
In June 2019, the lank bank bought the house at 407 N. West St. and sold it to Third First Legacy in December of the same year. Third First renovated the house into an attractive, single-family rental.
On March 29, the land bank used grant money to buy the building at 401 N. Sandusky St. for $162,000. Initial plans are to demo the structure and use the space for an attractive northern entrance to Heartland Commerce Park.
Working in conjunction with the land bank, The Ohio District 5 Area on Aging is moving forward with plans to build an eight-unit apartment complex for seniors at 301 and 303 N. Norton St.
North Norton Street
The city approved rezoning the parcels to Planned Commercial Neighborhood District earlier this year. On Aug. 2, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved the apartment complex as a conditional use in the PCDD.
No one at the BZA meeting opposed the conditional use. Councilman Mike Hillier, chair of the city’s zoning committee, said the project was good infill, gets rid of an ugly property, and “definitely will help the area.”
“The last remaining hurdle from the city’s perspective is the development plan,” Filkins said on Friday.
Legislation approving the plan is up for a second reading at the Aug. 14 meeting of Mount Vernon City Council.
Demolition of 303 N. Norton St. is slated to begin on Monday.
A couple of blocks north, the land bank has filed for the deed on 621 N. Sandusky. The city condemned the structure in March.
“We have demolition quotes on the building. It’s been condemned by the city, so it has to be demolished,” Filkins said.
Former News building
Interior demolition started on July 28 on the former Mount Vernon News building at 18 E. Vine St. Filkins said that essentially 100% of the interior walls will be demolished “so we can start with a clean slate.”
“That process is going fast right now because they have college students that can help them,” he said.
Request for Proposals are due Aug. 17 for a construction design-build contract. Filkins said that bringing the company in for the design phase ensures a design that will be functional for the structure.
The RFP also requires companies to set a maximum price to safeguard against skyrocketing costs.
Shellmar
Filkins said the Shellmar parcel is now a “beautiful field of dreams.”
Excavators removed about eight acres of concrete, a more extensive project than expected. Topsoil has been seeded and strawed.
Asphalt on the existing road remains. Filkins said if the road is used in the future, the existing asphalt will make a good base for an improved road.
Heartland Commerce Park
Regulations for Heartland Commerce Park call for an elected Property Owners Association board once at least five companies are active in the complex. The Ohio Mint, Knox Area Transit, Markt Solutions, and American Isostatic Presses join the land bank as owners in HCP.
Land Bank President Jeff Gottke said elections for the POA board are scheduled for mid-September.
The Environmental Protection Agency approved the work Schlumberger has done in HCP’s power house, which means the land bank can take ownership of the building. Several parking lots are the only parcels Schlumberger still owns.
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