Northern Star
DeKALB – After a series of unresolved code violations, the City of DeKalb and Hunter Properties have reached a tentative agreement which will include a change of ownership of four complexes owned by Hunter Properties.
In the agreement, Hunter Properties is to sell Hunter Ridgebrook, 808-832 Ridge Drive and 832 Edgebrook Drive, Hunter Tri-Frat, 930-934 Greenbrier Road and 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive, Lincoln Tower, 1100 W. Lincoln Highway, and Hunter Hillcrest, 1011-1027 Hillcrest Drive, within 3 ½ years.
Marcus & Millichap and Triad Real Estate Partners are currently listed to sell the properties, according to the agreement.
DeKalb City Attorney Matthew Rose said there’s no current buyer for the properties. The agreement obligates Hunter Properties to provide certain services that should improve the quality of living conditions to people that live there, he added.
The two candidates for DeKalb mayor took part in a neighborhood forum Sunday.
About a dozen Kensington Pointe residents gathered on a chilly day to hear from candidates Carolyn Morris and Cohen Barnes. They gathered on the front lawn of the Rev. Marty Marks, a pastor for Immanuel Lutheran Church. Marks said he personally knows both candidates and wanted to create an event that focused on commonalities. He said the results speak for themselves.
“I was happy for the people who were here, said Marks. I was happy for the engagement. There were questions. Both candidates seemed to enjoy getting to know each other and even that’s just a net gain.
Northern Star
DeKALB – Following opposition from DeKalb residents and an hour of back and forth discussion, City Council members approved a special service area for Hunter Ridgebrook Properties at Monday’s meeting.
A special service area allows local governments to tax for and deliver services to a certain geographic area. In this case, the special service area would improve the public safety and security improvements for residents in the housing complex, according to the Oct. 12 city council agenda.
The discussion to make Hunter Ridgebrook Properties, 808 Ridge Drive, a special service area began in September due to an uptick in crime and a series of code violations for broken smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, bed bug infestations, security failures and more, according to an Oct. 9 Northern Star article.
'A cancer on our community': DeKalb City Council approves Hunter Ridgebrook SSA creation daily-chronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from daily-chronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Audio from the City Council meeting on December 14, 2020.
The new Special Service Area in DeKalb would mean that Hunter Properties would pay additional property taxes to foot the bill for security improvements near the Annie Glidden North neighborhood. Some community members, like Sasha Cohen, think the new designation shifts financial burden from Hunter properties to its tenants.
“A cost that will simply be passed on to the existing tenants, many of whom are low income, and even more of whom have been struggling with the inability to make rate rent payments as it is due to the ongoing public health crisis,” said Cohen.