MASON CITY – The city council will continue to work with landlord Russ Hardy on properties the city wants to see rehabbed.
At a council work session held Wednesday night, Mr. Hardy attended and told the council he has met all of their objectives in the progressive rehab of properties at the 1300 block of North Federal. He indicated he wants to put a bar or restaurant in the location of the former Alley Katz bar and he has the upstairs apartments pretty much ready to be moved into.
The council offered their understanding of Mr. Hardy’s situation. Scott Tornquist said he understood not fixing up a property if there was no tenant to go into it. Travis Hickey said he’d like to see Mr. Hardy finish his projects in a more deliberate manner versus piecemeal. Jean Marinos wants to arrange meetings with people who live and own property in the North End neighborhoods to come together for discussions on how to transform the area into a vibrant destination “as it once was”.
Mr. Hardy declared that the North End should instead be referred to as the “Historic North Village” to start changing people’s perceptions of the area. He vowed to follow the direction of the council and city staff, including Steven J. Van Steenhuyse, Director of the Development Services Department, in finishing the rehab of his buildings.
The council and their legal advisor, Randy Nielsen, may still pursue legal means to condemn or tear down other properties, for example, 1011 North Federal Avenue, which is being used for storage at this time.
A petition now with over 400 signatures, spearheaded by realtor Pam Hildebrand, may yet make its way to the council. The work session has taken some of the thunder out of the petition, as word got back to the council and mayor that citizens were rallying through the petition to push them to take action on the North End dilemma. Now that the council has more or less decided their course of action (more meetings) on reviving the North End, it is unclear what the petition may accomplish once or if it is turned in.
Watch entire discussion:
Photos: (Click to view larger photo.)
Om goodness..that hair! Anyway let’s get Hickey on it, didn’t he build a non permitted and not to code garage for his house? Hmmmm more issues with the thug! Give the north end to him and it will get done!
My question all along. Why do these scammers think they are so cool living in MC? They have the north end on their resume too! ha
Russ Hardy is a shrewd operator.
LVS is spot on!
I might add that it doesn’t take much to stay ahead of the nitwits running city hall.
Makes you wonder what old hardy has over the city.
Well, he got along great with the council at the work session. Zero animosity and no blame pointed his way. If they got a problem with him, I didn’t sense it. Granted, they planted him in the agenda and named his properties as targets. But… their words of empathy show he’s doing something right. There was no “get tough” policy in that room. Mr. Hardy is pretty much off the hook if he just follows staff’s (meager) rehab goals for one or two of his properties (he owns lots more).
In other words, they are going to do nothing but continue to TALK and hold meetings. Hardy has been playing the city for 20 years and nothing has changed. Meanwhile, the buildings get worse and worse and nothing has changed. The North End still looks like a slum and the city spends millions in the downtown area chasing a wet dream.
I think Mr. Hardy would meet any expectation the city placed on him. City hall is setting the pace and he’s keeping up. If they want more from him, they need to ask. That’s my impression of the situation. The other impression I have is a complete and total lack of leadership from elected leaders in the North End. Really, only a few folks like Tim Latham are trying to make progress there. City hall has brushed it off like yesterday’s oatmeal while they spend millions downtown. The mayor couldn’t care less. Why is there no plan? Why is city staff not directed to devise a revitalization program in the North End? Are they investigating anything, a federal program, investors? The lack of leadership is stark. The people got what they asked for.
@Matt-I am going to disagree with you. I have seen Hardy rentals all over town and he is the worse slum lord in the city. He has been playing this city for ever. At least that is my opinion. He gets away with it because of the taxes he pays.
That’s ok to disagree. I would only say that, again, if the city held him to a certain standard, he would (be forced) to comply. They are not doing that, so he does enough to run his business. The onus is on the city to lead here. I heard Mr. Hardy is snapping up properties left and right, and getting them cheap. There does’t appear to be much value in them if he is getting them for under $30K each. Now, he did own some of the (slummy) houses at the 300 block of East State where the flood houses are going. He got them cheap and then sold (higher) to the MC Betterment. That’s smart business (buy low, sell high). I really think he is just conducting his business as the climate will allow. That being said, I wish he would finish up some of his projects faster and completely. He did a great job on South Jackson Avenue, though, as a counter-example.
I like Russ. Personally, I think he’s a good guy, and he’s accommodating. His son Kevin is a pretty decent guy also. As I’ve mentioned before, ,if Russ really wanted to live up to the Christian religion I believe he adheres to, he should continue buying properties and fixing them up, but with the twist of allowing modest interest rent to own plans which would allow his many clients to become homeowners in 10-15 years. Then he would go down in history as a Saint.
Philly, you don’t even live here. So STFU.
I agree with your comments on city leadership.