Duluth residents are still wondering why billionaire Kathy Cargill is buying up homes and properties in the city's Park Point neighborhood.
Nine of the 12 homes purchased through Cargill's LLC have been torn down in recent months, with plans in place to demolish the remaining three homes.
City officials say they don't know of any concrete plan for the purchased property but they're concerned. At this point however, nothing illegal has been done and there's no violation of city regulations.
Mayor Roger Reinert says many citizens are concerned Cargill's extensive purchasing will only worsen the city's need for more housing. He's also reassuring residents the city will stay involved.
"We spent a decade, net, making 39 new single-family homes," says Mayor Reinert. "So when you have the loss of any number, but potentially 15 to 20 that are being torn down, without knowing if they're being replaced, that's a real hit to our housing inventory at a time when we really need single-family homes."
Reinert tells WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar many are concerned the properties will be left vacant once the homes are torn down.
"Now you just start to have these gaps in that, and that I think is what's most troubling," says the mayor. "Especially to the neighborhood who between rental, VRBO, now between this, is a neighborhood on the verge of no longer having neighbors."
The land, which stretches across the southwestern shore of Lake Superior from Canal Park to the Wisconsin border, is the largest freshwater sandbar in the world. It's become a famous tourist attraction for visitors to the Twin Ports area and is linked to the mainland by the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge. It's well known for a very rare sandy beach along Lake Superior and is a popular spot in the summer for sunbathers, bird watchers and more.
It's also a very fragile expanse of dunes and land due to erosion from the tempestuous lake. The area is almost totally residential and parkland.
Cargill has not responded to a letter from Reinert asking her to meet with him and the Park Point Community Club. Reinert says he and council members will send another letter in hopes of learning more.
Council Member Roz Randorf, who represents the Canal Park and Park Point neighborhood says she wants to welcome Kathy Cargill to the community but still would like to engage with her on what the plan is for property she is acquiring.
"We really haven't found out a lot," Randorf tells WCCO's Adam and Jordana. "It's the lack of knowledge, lack of information that is really making everyone nervous. We all know that it isn't illegal to buy property. And it isn't illegal to sell it. But when you have over 20 parcels that have sold now, with no information on will these be single-family homes, will it be wildlife preserve? We don't know."
Randorf says she wants to help Cargill vision what she wants to do with the property.