MARYVILLE, Mo. — A proposed cooperative housing development for seniors will not go forward due to a lack of interest, the company told Maryville city officials last week.
In a letter to the city, Ray Bisbee, the CEO of the company — Ewing Properties — that was backing The Estates of Maryville: A Vintage Cooperative Community, said that the company had been unable to reach its target of selling half the homes in the development, and so will scrap its plans for construction.
“Due to a shortage of interest in this area at this time, the project, which was expected to bring 24 individual and maintenance-free homes to the Maryville community cannot move forward,” Bisbee said in the letter. “At Ewing Properties, we aim to ensure over 50% of the homes are sold before construction begins. At this time, the Maryville location has not obtained this goal.”
The approximately $12 million development was announced in 2019 as the company’s first foray outside of Iowa, where it is based. The two dozen, single-level homes would have gone in immediately south of Donaldson-Westside Park and west of Northwest Missouri State University.
The city had agreed to reimburse the company $200,000 for extending sewer lines to the property once the work was finished. Since the work never began, the City Council simply canceled the agreement Monday. City Manager Greg McDanel said the property remains annexed into city limits, and such a development agreement could be on the table in the future if another entity showed interest in developing the property.
Bisbee said the company will now focus its efforts on a development in Liberty, Missouri.
Housing development
The council on Monday passed a resolution of support for HRM Development’s application to the Missouri Housing Development Commission to build Southview Apartments, Phase III.
The proposed project would construct two, 16-plex units ranging from 872 to 1,092 square feet with a mix of two- and three-bedroom apartments with two full baths, all equipped with washers and dryers. Residents would have access to the clubhouse and other features that were constructed during Phases I and II.
The units would target families with children and incomes between 60 and 80 percent of the area median income.
The resolution was passed to assist with the application process for the low-income housing tax credits from the commission, which are set to be announced in December after the September application deadline.
- Council members accepted a bid of up to $42,500 from MTS Contracting for masonry repairs to City Hall. The building sustained “water infiltration” damage on its eastern wall earlier this year, necessitating the relocation of some employees to different areas of the facility. After repairs are completed, staff will analyze mold/mildew remediation and restoration options to restore damaged areas to functional use.
- The council approved a contract with United Electric Cooperative for up to $13,852 to move a primary electrical line to allow for the final grading of the RV park expansion at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park to continue.
- McDanel said the city is still awaiting approval from federal and state officials to move ahead with re-bidding the South Main Corridor Improvement Project. He said those officials have indicated approval should move forward this week, but that approval was also expected last week.
- Geosmin levels at Mozingo Lake have begun rising again, McDanel said, and the city has approved a half-concentration of algicide to be applied to 500 acres of the lake on Wednesday. It should take a couple of days for levels to return to normal.
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