Downtown Minneapolis Residents Association, Inc.June 29, 1996
Rebecca Yanisch
Executive Director
Minneapolis Community Development Agency
105 5th Avenue South, Suite 200
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401-2534
In Re: Heritage Landing Redevelopment Proposal
Dear Ms. Yanisch:
This letter is to inform you that at the May 21, 1996, monthly meeting of the board of directors of the Downtown Minneapolis Residents Association, the board voted to inform you of an error in a memo sent by you on April 15, 1996. The letter was concerning the Heritage Landing Redevelopment Proposal sent to Council Member Jim Niland, Chair of the Community Development Committee and Council Member Joan Campbell, Chair of the Ways and Means/Budget Committee.
On the first page of the memo under the topic of Neighborhood Group Notification, it stated that "The project has been presented to the Downtown Minneapolis Residents Association ...". At that time, no presentation had been made to our organization. Arne Gregory, of Arnold Development had come before our board at our December 19, 1995, monthly board meeting and asked for endorsement of the Oakwood Apartments (f/k/a Tension Envelope Building) project (which we gave). At the end of his presentation, he casually mentioned the Heritage Landing project and stated that he would be making a formal presentation at a later date when more details were available. At our June 18, 1996, monthly board meeting, he gave that presentation (no endorsement was sought).
Subsequent to your memo, the City Council approved the project. The board of directors feels that they did this with misleading information. The board does not oppose the project, it just feels the process needs to be looked at so that in the future, all interested parties are involved and are actually informed.
Sincerely,
Paul W. Barber
Chair -- Board of Directors
Downtown Minneapolis Residents Association
cc: Council Member Jackie Cherryhomes
Council Member Pat Scott