Renovation of a multi-residential development in Red Oak, Iowa. Design plans call for the renovation of a multi-residential development.

https://images.apollo.ai/articles/pdfs/2954331_45115_08-31-2021.pdf Red Oak Express Red Oak, Iowa Board hears concerns over possible sale of buildings Nick Johansen The Red Oak Express The Red Oak School Board is con-sidering an offer for the sale of the Bancroft and Webster buildings. The board received offers from Gold Nugget Properties, LLC, of $15,000 for the Webster building, and $8,000 for the Bancroft building.. Superintendent Ron Lorenz said the company making the offer is from Missouri. "They purchase old buildings, such as school buildings and factories and sell them to investors who try to repur-pose the buildings for different reasons. I've looked online and have seen that some of their purchases have been turned into daycare centers, or adult living centers, so this company goes out and tries to find the folks looking to repurpose old buildings," Lorenz said. The buildings are zoned residen-tially, and nothing can happen to the buildings without them being rezoned. "I spoke with city administrator Brad Wright to make sure he and the city would have no reservations. He told me that the city would decide whether whatever went in there was appropriate. I know the board has been very consis-tent in wanting to be good neighbors, and make sure nothing goes in there that is detrimental to the neighborhood and the community, and Wright assured me the city will not rezone it for such," commented Lorenz. Karl Bormann was in attendance at the meeting, and said that in talking to people, it seemed like a different out-come was planned. "There's always been a thought that you were going to demolish the proper-ties, and that the land would be returned to dirt, and hopefully there would be some interest in developing some hous-ing there," Karl said. Karl Bormann added a number of adjacent property owners said they wanted to know more about what was going to happen with the buildings before the board took action on any sale, and he encouraged the board to take its time and give the sale some thought. "I'm not incredibly impressed that the buyer sells the buildings to inves-tors, and turns it into 'something,' and we don't know what that will be. lean say that it's a plan that is not going to be well-accepted by people that live adjacent to the buildings, nor do I think it will be well-accepted by any of the taxpayers with a concern over what the future holds for the buildings," com-mented Karl. Bormann cited the former Murphy Calendar building, which was pur-chased by an outside investor and now has no idea what to do with the build-ing. Susie Borman also spoke, describ-ing a similar district which closed a building and used district funds to remove the asbestos and tear down the building. The gym was left standing to be converted into a community center, and houses were also built at the loca-tion. She felt selling the building for an unknown purpose was a bad decision. "I would not respect the board for selling the building to a company that isn't a part of us. And for the selling price, what are the parameters How long can they do nothing Will the building be left' to use as some sort of a storage unit I think the board needs to think of the other things that are hap-pening in the community. I fully sup-port what the district has been doing on other issues, but on this issue, I do not," said Susie. Ellie Nenneman also voiced con-cerns, saying she feared the property would be turned into low-income hous-ing, or something else that would be problematic. Joe Nennemann's concern was that an out-of-town investment company would do more harm that good, especially at the Webster build-ing's location. Drew Swanson also spoke on a per-sonal level, and said he hoped the board was being careful with how they were executing the decision for selling. "In the case of the middle school, it seemed we had more caveats with the sale, and a little more guarantees that went along with that sale. I hope the board can sit down, think about this, and make sure the sale is going to be good in the long term, rather than just a dump and run so we don't have to deal with it," stated Swanson. Following the public hearing, the board moved b discussion about the sale itself. Several of the board mem-bers, including Zoger Carlson and Bret Blackman, felt hat they needed to hear a presentation from a Gold Nugget representative iefore considering any further action. Lorenz shared what information had been submitted by the company along with the initial rids. "We can asure you that our inten-tions for the pirehase of this property are honorable. We are an investment company that caters to a large, diverse clientele that trusts us to locate quality properties for their individual needs. We strive to make the appropriate match between property and clientele members no tlut all parties concerned, including the community, are satisfied," Lorenz said. 'We pride ourselves on maintaining a tositive reputation with communities aid our buyers, and that's why we mainttin every aspect of the properties we purchase, so the commu-nity is not faces with a detrimental eye-sore. We have to intention to strip out or demolish theproperty. While that's a superficial synopsis, and I don't know the gentleman,he seemed to know his business. I'm sncertain if he has a lot more clarity, a his business is buying properties, andre-selling properties." Blackman iaid he was concerned the property world fall into the wrong hands, and tha he still favored an in-person presentaion, as the sale of the middle school vas very conditional. Lorenz saic the Gold Nugget rep-resentative didlist references, and had done work in Sdney, and he could cer-tainly contact de representative to see if he would meetwith the board. o Blackman said he would rather go slow and do tte right thing rather than make a quick udgment on any invest-ment opportunties. The board noved to table the deci-sion and seek a presentation from the Gold Nugget epresentative at the next school board neeting. ____________ https://www.kmaland.com/news/red-oak-council-approves-exchange-of-property/article_eeaa1734-f3f3-11eb-9650-af3a1e7cf4f3.html (Red Oak) -- The Red Oak city council has approved an exchange of property with the Red Oak school district. Meeting in regular session Monday night, the council approved the exchange of a handful of properties with the school district to open up opportunities for both parties. In an interview with KMA News, city administrator Brad Wright said the city gave multiple properties to the district. "The property that we sold to the school is the football field, the baseball field adjacent to the football field, and the parking lot area that is just east of the fire station," Wright said. "What we got from the school in exchange is what is commonly known as 'the cage,' which was the playground for the old middle school." Click here for details Wright said the city had been leasing the fields to the school for years, but have now officially given ownership to the district. With the school no longer feeling the need to still own the cage with the middle school now being converted into an apartment building, Wright said it was a good time to exchange with the school also needing ownership of the fields to make renovations. "They did not have need for that playground equipment and would rather put it in the hands of the city to become part of our park system," Wright said. "They actually wanted to have title to the football field and that area because they wanted to make some improvements and some of the funding that they were wanting to use to run fiber optics to the press boxes and some things, they needed to be owners and we had leased it to them for years." Currently the city has no intentions to renovate or change the cage as Wright says it recently underwent several changes and improvements. "Actually it was improved a few years ago as a joint project between the Rotary and the school system, so it's in really nice shape and had just replaced some tables and benches that had been damaged," Wright said. "So it's in nice shape now and so the city takes on the responsibility of maintaining it and trying to keep it that way." Wright added the Rotary will also likely keep in touch with the city to maintain the area and help out in any way then can. Thank you for reading kmaland.com At KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com. ________ Transformation of Red Oak Middle School Into Public Housing The transformation of Red Oak Middle School into public housing has been approved for financing from the Iowa Finance Authority. Plans are to work with contractors, builders, fire inspectors and others to get the project rolling. Per the owner, as of January 14, 2019, they are in the process of attempting to sell the middle school building and it will be developed by a development firm. Owner states that they only have two plans for the building, sell it to a developer or to demolish it. At this time, information regarding a developer is not available and a timeline for construction has not been determined. As of June 7, 2023, no new information available