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I had a good conversation with Jamil Alam about the BOA application for
the Howard's property. He confirmed that indeed he no longer has a
contract on the Howard property, and he is not at all interested in
pursuing a variance from the BOA without a letter of support from the
neighborhood.

In this conversation, he told me that he has gotten very mixed messages
from individuals in this neighborhood about the desire for mixed use,
and he asked me what I thought neighbors really wanted. He asked
point-blank what I thought neighbors would prefer if it came down to a
choice between (for example) an apartment complex versus a mixed-use
development.

I honestly couldn't say.

I think we need to talk as a neighborhood over the next few months and
see if we can get some common visions for development. Not only for the
Howard's property, but for 5117 N. Lamar, which is also for sale, the
large lot on Middle Fiskville, and for some of the larger properties
that are not currently for sale, but may be in the future.

We have a neighborhood plan, but maybe we should go back to that from
time to time to just check that we still have that common vision for
development, or we should fine-tune the details of that plan. I use the
plan as my guide in my position, so it is very important that we really
talk out the details of development.

At this point, I'm not sure the door is completely closed with Endeavor.
Jamil certainly isn't going to try to get a variance without our
support, and he doesn't even have a contract pending to purchase the
property. But he is still willing to talk to me, and he does seem
interested in finding out what kind of development the neighborhood
would support on the Howard's property.

Jamil told me several times that the property is for sale, and that
somebody else is likely to purchase the property and build something
else. As Clay reported, Centro is already looking at the property for a
different project. But if we decide that we really do support a
mixed-use project for that site, then I think Jamil would like to stay
in the loop.

I would like to broaden the conversation to include other sites in our
neighborhood. We have the same compatibility problems with the lot at
5117 N. Lamar. If the VMU project at North Loop and Lamar (West side)
is approved and construction begins, I think other developers will get
similar ideas about properties on our side of Lamar.

Cheers.

____________________________________________
Sebastian Wren, Ph.D.
Director
http://BalancedReading.com [1]

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