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untanglingwebs
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Seeking answers: Potential Smith Village buyers, Flint administrators, site developer still unsure of move-in dates
Jeremy Allen | jallen42@mlive.com By Jeremy Allen | jallen42@mlive.com MLive.com
on March 15, 2013 at 5:30 PM, updated March 15, 2013 at 5:36 PM Print
FLINT, MI – University of Michigan-Flint retiree Robbie Grier has had most of her apartment packed in boxes since November 2011, waiting on a phone call telling her that she can move into her new Smith Village home.
The problem: Not the city of Flint, nor the current developer – Ginosko Development Co. – nor the potential residents of Smith Village know when a move-in date will be set.
Emergency Financial Manager Ed Kurtz said that the homes should be ready for occupancy by “late spring or early summer.”
Elaine Simpson, a marketing consultant for Ginosko Development Co., said that people should be able to occupy the homes “soon,” and that the company has been “working to overcome challenges.”
The people who have been approved to purchase the homes, though, say they’ve been hearing the same promises from the city and from the developers – three different developers since 2010 – for about 15 months.
Grier, a 68-year-old Flint resident, is one of the many potential buyers who said she has been waiting on the day when the city of Flint and the developers of Flint’s Smith Village housing project can let her know that the house she’s supposed to buy is ready for occupancy.
“My house was built and move-in ready in November of 2011. I have been waiting on it for almost two years. I was told by Metro Housing that I was the first one to take their course and to qualify for the (Smith Village) homes,” Grier said.
“I haven’t been told anything by the city recently, but I’m definitely still waiting on them. They’re always telling me that ‘It’s going to be soon and we’re working on it,’ but my ‘soon’ has yet to come.”
The home that Grier is set to purchase was toured in December 2012 and showcased as a model home for the public during a city press conference that announced Smith Village homes would ready for occupancy before the end of January 2013.
“That date came and went like so many others in the past and I’m still not in my home yet,” Grier said.
The houses, which are financed in part by federal grant money and in part by the city of Flint, are deeded to the Ginosko developer to market and sell, Kurtz said.
“(Development on Smith Village) has started and stopped and started and stopped, and it’s been going on for 16 years. The developer is still under contract to complete the homes. (The city of Flint is) still very actively involved, but we don’t own the properties,” Kurtz said.
“It’s certainly in the city’s best interest to see these homes sold because the proceeds from the sales go back into the city, but there isn’t a hard and fast deadline. We’re shooting to have that whole thing done by late spring, early summer, but in Michigan, with frost laws and things, we can’t even finish paving the roads until spring.”
There are 25 Smith Village homes, 10 of which have been certified with certificates of occupancy, but none of the homes are currently occupied.
Theresa Allen, the primary broker for Smith Village homes, said that there are plenty of qualified buyers for the home, but there is a lot of “red tape” to clear before people can start to move into the homes.
“We do have some qualified buyers that are ready to move in and I’m meeting with four or five other buyers who will be qualified to move in very soon. There’s just been so much red tape. The developer had to take a subdivision over from two previous developers, so there were things he had to get cleared up so he could move forward with his operation,” Allen said.
“We are really close to getting these people into these houses. It’s just been a long, drawn-out process on both ends with the city and the developers, but we do have qualified people.”
Simpson agreed with Allen, saying that the company suffered a lot of setbacks, having to take over and fix problems that originated from the two previous developers.
“There are a lot of hoops that have to get gone through. (Ginosko) had to change some things to overcome from the previous developers,” Simpson said.
“They had to go through and get new permits and there was a lot that had to be re-done from the first developers. That’s all caused problems with the closing process. We are all frustrated and we are all moving as fast as we can.”
She said that there are about 10 move-in-ready homes, coinciding with the 10 certificates of occupancy that they have received.
SMITH VILLAGE DELAYS01.JPG
Alice Evans is frustrated by all the delays at Smith Village. Her house has been packed up since December, when they were told they would be able to move in to the new development. They say they haven't been able to get any answers from the city.
Ryan Garza | MLive.com When asked about why there are qualified buyers and close to 10 move-in-ready homes, Simpson said that sometimes things happen at closings that can delay the process.
“We have not been hiding anything from anybody or keeping information from anyone, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done,” she said.
“We just want to get people in their homes. They’ve been extremely patient and we appreciate that. It’s been a challenge for everyone and I think we’ve overcome most of those challenges.”
Alice Evans is another resident who has been awaiting a move-in date from the city.
Evans, who is blind, said that she feels like the city is constantly giving her the runaround.
“They’ve wasted two years of my life. They always give me expectations and never come through, and this has been going on for two years,” Evans said. “The city of Flint should be embarrassed because they don’t know what they’re doing. I’m sick of hearing this blame stuff.”
Evans said that she was told as recently as the week of March 12 that she would hear about a closing date “within a week or so.”
Grier said that Evans isn’t alone in her disappointment.
“I’m 68 years old and I was looking for the energy efficiency, a new build with certain warranties that are insured, and I love Flint and appreciated that it was new downtown. I am not all that happy with somebody mangling two years of my life,” she said. |
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Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:54 am |
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00SL2
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| Those homes cannot be worth what they were originally priced. All property values in this city have declined in the past two years. What kind of consideration or compensation will be given anyone who signed an agreement to purchase two years ago? |
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Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:42 pm |
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JCARPENTER
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| SOME OF YOU MAY RECALL MY SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE CORRECT WAY TO DEVELOPE THIS SUBDIVISION BEFORE KNOW IT ALL WALLING AND BROWN SCREWED IT UP AFTER I LEFT CITY HALL. MOST OF THE SUGGESTIONS ARE TO LATE NOW. MAYBE AFTER YOU GET RID OF THESE TWO GOOD OLD BOY PUPPETS AND GET SOMEONE WHO REPRESENTS US WE CAN START MOVING FOREWARD. THESE HOMES WILL NEVER SELL BY RUNNING TV ADS AND RENTING THEM IS EVEN A BIGGER JOKE. GOOD LUCK ,YOUR GOING TO NEED IT. |
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:41 pm |
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untanglingwebs
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I noticed I the news story that Ginosko was trying to blame two previous developers! That is not accurate as Metro Housing was kicked to the curb before any development took place.
The blame fully falls on Walling and his choice for City Administrator, Gregory Eason. It was Eason who went to council and changed developers. Metro foolishly started some planning and design work with the administration's hand-picked architect, Shannon White, the wife of Ridgeway White. Eason and Bade argued that the change was legal as the administration never signed the contract with Metro. Metro had no reason to assume bad-faith on the part of the city as the contract had been approved by both council and the board of Metro. The City paid money to Metro to settle any claims |
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:14 pm |
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untanglingwebs
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The next part of the story has multiple culpable entities. Eason gives a contract to a newly formed company not completely registered with the State of Michigan. One individual seeks foreign investors and other investors to purchase homes which he then leases. Charles Young of Operation Unification is the second partner and is the President of an improperly organized nonprofit. Both are being sued by the developer selected by Metro Housing because both participated in negotiations with Metro. Also Young was the agent of the original developer and had signed confidentiality documents in conjunction with the project. Neither partner of the new Smith Village Construction had a builder's license initially.
HUD stated the City of Flint did not have to bid for a developer as the NSP funds had to be spent quickly. No one verified the bond requirements, workman comp and other financial requirements for the new company. The City never verified that a builder's license was used when the initial permits were issued and the company the permits were issued to did not even exist yet. All bond documents were in the name of Champion Homes, the company contracted for the modular.
Tia Ewing, then a reporter for Channel 5, reported on the failure of the company to pay local contractors. The companies paid prevailing wage but were denied payment in full during the settlement.
A later story revealed more unpaid contractors and multiple liens on the properties.
Since then there have been news stories of repairs and improper initial construction that required a teardown and a rebuild.
The initial plan did not call for houses facing Williams Street because the street was narrow. The curbs had to be cut and new entrances installed for there to be driveways for the homes that eventually built on Williams. Even now there are several streets that have been decimated by the construction and must be rebuilt completely. |
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:33 pm |
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untanglingwebs
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The next part of the story should be investigations by the FBI for corruption:
Were kickbacks or bribes paid to Walling administration individuals or to council persons for the contracting of services?
The contractual documents for Smith Village Contracting stated the key development staff would be selected by the city. The city answered Freedom of Information documents by referring the question to the developer. A for profit company has no obligations under FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). So the key players in the development appeared to come from Young's Operation Unification cohorts.
Who is responsible for the failures of the Department of Community and Economic Development to comply with HUD regulations?
A Kevin Smith signed off on the documents assuring no tax liens on the part of the two principals in the Smith Village construction. This was a farce as Young had numerous tax liens in both his name and in the name of Operation Unification.
The other partner owned numerous properties under SE Metro Properties in the Detroit area. How did the city verify the status? |
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Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:01 am |
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
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| Be sure to listen to John Carpenter on 600 AM radio at 10:00 am as he discusses Smith Village. Mike Kilbreath is the host and he discusses all that is relevant to Flint. |
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Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:22 am |
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