Lakeview Tower first TIF project in Duluth to subsidize vacation rentals
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The latest amendment to a TIF agreement “gives the developer flexibility …” Indeed. Far too much flexibility with our tax concessions. In order to give the appearance of growth and development, are we liquidating this city bit-by-bit?
This enrages me.
I meet people from all over the US as well as the world. Places such as Paris, which forbids Airbnb except in some select areas and Portugal which did away with Airbnb after the citizens protested that they had no place to live, are ending Airbnb. They see the devastation.
But Duluth, oh no. They have a new classification which has the dang taxpayers paying for their windfall development. Taxes that are deferred. The citizens get to take up the slack.
Duluth, with no place to live. High rents. High house prices. And windfalls for developers.
Ha ha. The people saying no one wants to build in Duluth. The ones who do must be hiding the bonanzas somehow.
This is some “same as it ever was” bullshit!
Why wouldn’t the property owner just have those 2 floors designated as month to month rent as opposed to yearly leases?
That would have been perfectly ok(30 days or more) without the amendment. The amendment allows for 29 days or under, which are vacation rentals as defined by the City. Month to Month no problem.
Would have been nice to remind everyone that this subsidized high rent building was once a hotel.
Ironic that they will now use two floors for a hotel subsidized by the taxpayer in what is already one of the highest taxed areas in the state, if not the country.
Also this clearly points out that our two councilors on DEDA need to resign. They did not know the process or maybe they did and went along with the fear factor. Fear factor that the developer most likely used to snowball the City saying, “Do you want an abandoned project in your downtown?” HobbS, the inexperienced DEDA director, is in over her head, and Arik Forsman that should have known better as he works for Minnesota Power in the economic development part of the company, need to step down. Janet Kennedy should have known better to. If they didn’t, then why didn’t they table this until they could get more information?
This clearly looks like we have rubber-stampers overseeing DEDA and also leading DEDA.
Where are you, Mayor Reinert? What do you have to say besides the city needs this when we have plenty of independent short term rentals in town? And, if not, why not open up more independent ones so we are not subsidizing big money healthcare like this hospital.