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Little Woods Report November 8, 2000 Page 3 Background on 8283 Long Lake Road and the HRP Program: The City purchased the property at 8283 Long Lake Road in March of 1997 at a cost of $50,500. (As can be seen in Figure 4, the value of the land alone has increased almost to what the City initially paid for the land and the house.) Since that time, staff has been before the Council/EDA on more than one occasion regarding the long range plan for this property, the consensus being to not market the lot on its own, but rather to retain the property and market it as a component of a much larger development. From these meetings with the Council, staff had been directed to explore purchasing the adjoining properties, which are currently used as rental dwellings by their respective owners. The homes are very small and could be considered “blighted” under the criteria established in the HRP guidelines. (Refer to Figure 3.) The current HRP guidelines however restrict purchases to owner-occupied homes only, due in large part to the cost of the relocation benefits to which the City would be subject. The alternative would be to use the City’s lot as an incentive for a developer to purchase and redevelop the adjoining parcels. Before this type of scenario can move forward, however, the development potential along unimproved Woodlawn and Laport Drives must be determined. The recently completed hydrological study answers this question to a large extent. Figure 3.