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NewsDecember 8, 2018

A plan pushed by Cape Girardeau city officials to revitalize two run-down buildings and a vacant lot on Good Hope Street collapsed after the properties were sold by the county government for back taxes. City development services director Alex McElroy said the tax sale in August of this year ended the development effort before it could get started...

Three vacant properties are seen June 28, 2017, at 631 Good Hope St., an empty lot at 633 Good Hope St. and 635 Good Hope St. in Cape Girardeau.
Three vacant properties are seen June 28, 2017, at 631 Good Hope St., an empty lot at 633 Good Hope St. and 635 Good Hope St. in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file

A plan pushed by Cape Girardeau city officials to revitalize two run-down buildings and a vacant lot on Good Hope Street collapsed after the properties were sold by the county government for back taxes.

City development services director Alex McElroy said the tax sale in August of this year ended the development effort before it could get started.

McElroy said city officials informed Alliant Development LLC, which intended to redevelop the properties, it was responsible for paying back taxes. But the developer never paid the back taxes and the properties were sold by the Cape Girardeau County Collector�s Office in an effort to recover back taxes.

Robert Janota, president of ISI Environmental and Recycling, purchased the properties, McElroy said.

Janota purchased the two Good Hope Street buildings at 631 and 635 Good Hope St. and a lot between them at 633 Good Hope St., as well as two South Sprigg Street properties. Janota paid $3,000 for all of the properties, which was less than the amount owed in back taxes, according to the collector�s office.

While the original revitalization plan is now a bust, McElroy said the new owner will have to fix up the properties to meet city code or demolish the structures.

McElroy said he has discussed the situation with Janota.

The roof of the brick building at 631 Good Hope St. has collapsed and the city has identified it as an �unsafe structure,� he said.

Janota has indicated he will raze the building, McElroy said.

Redevelopment of the 635 Good Hope St. structure remains uncertain, but Janota �would prefer to leave it standing,� McElroy said.

The Southeast Missourian reached out to Janota for comment, but voice messages left for him were not returned.

City officials announced in June 2017 they would take a new approach to cleaning blighted, downtown property. They said they want to entice developers to revitalize old, vacant buildings by offering them at no cost.

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The city sought proposals to develope blighted properties on Good Hope Street rather than condemn the property and the raze the vacant buildings.

The site included the two dilapidated brick buildings at the corner of Good Hope and Sprigg streets. A third brick building at 633 Good Hope St. once stood between the two buildings, but that structure partially collapsed July 3, 2014, and the entire structure subsequently was razed.

The city removed that building and levied a $51,684 tax lien on the property in an effort to recover the cost, McElroy said in 2017.

Former Cape Girardeau resident Jeremy Ford, who was living in California, owned the property and had no plans to fix it up, city officials said at the time.

McElroy said Ford agreed to donate the property to a developer selected by the city. The tax lien then would have been transferred to the developer.

Under the plan, the city pledged to waive the tax lien upon substantial completion of the developer�s project.

�It is kind of a unique situation,� McElroy said in 2017, adding it was �a creative approach.�

In September 2017, the Cape Girardeau City Council approved a development agreement with Alliant Development LLC to rehabilitate the two rundown buildings and the vacant lot.

Dille Traxel Architecture, which was a partner in the development group, planned to relocate its offices to the second floor of the brick building at 635 Good Hope St.

The vacant buildings are part of the National Register-designated Haarig Historic District. The district was named to the register in 2001.

Largely settled by German immigrants, the area contained shops, offices, taverns and boardinghouses by the turn of the 20th century. Over the decades, commercial activity has declined, leaving buildings and properties vacant.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

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