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Commission approves sale of city-owned home at 2710 Onalaska Ave. for $173,000; $112,000 CDBG reimbursement planned
Summary
The commission approved the sale of a city-owned property at 2710 Onalaska Avenue for $173,000, with the city to seek reimbursement of roughly $112,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds used for floodplain compliance and renovations; the sale includes a 10-year owner-occupancy deed restriction.
Jonah, a city staff presenter, told the commission on April 23 that the city purchased the house at 2710 Onalaska Avenue in 2021, completed renovations to bring it into floodplain and building-code compliance and was now returning it to the market. Jonah said the city has invested about $112,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds into the property for basement fill, lot work to base flood elevation, retaining walls and other floodplain compliance work.
“Because we use CDBG funds to do the renovations, we had to meet a national objective … the sale was a little trickier,” Jonah said, explaining limits on affordability and income thresholds for buyers of housing developed with national-objective CDBG funds.
The home was initially listed near $202,000 based on assessor guidance, dropped to $192,000 after limited interest, and Jonah said the city negotiated with one interested buyer and agreed on a sale price of $173,000. The buyer was described in the presentation as a single young woman who had worked to assemble down-payment funds and, even after her efforts, was close to the 30% gross-income housing cost threshold required for the program.
A commissioner asked about total city investment in the original acquisition. Jonah said the initial purchase with the additional parcel likely totaled about $230,000 (not specified further), and noted the property now forms part of a cluster of three developed affordable housing units tied to the earlier acquisition.
The commission voted to approve the sale; the motion was made by Commissioner Vicki Markison and seconded by Council President Tamara Dickinson. The chair called for a vote and recorded unanimous approval.
Jonah said the city will request reimbursement of the $112,000 in CDBG funds; those funds would return to the CDBG program to be used for future housing development, and the remaining sale proceeds would go to the city’s general fund. The city will place a 10-year owner-occupancy deed restriction on the property; replacement-housing projects funded with larger city investments carry longer restrictions, Jonah said.
No amendments or conditions were added to the sale during the vote.
