Benton Harbor City Commissioners have voted to purchase nine pieces of property that have been foreclosed by the Berrien County Treasurer’s office before they’re auctioned off by the treasurer this year.
At a meeting Monday, commissioners were told City Manager Alex Little has identified the nine properties, of out 25 available, that would be worth the city’s while to purchase. They’re mostly vacant lots in residential areas that commissioners believe could be sold and turned into housing in many cases. But that’s not the plan for all of them. Commissioner Sharon Henderson noted some of the lots could be used to improve the user experience of nearby parks.
“A couple of those lots, two of them are located on Broadway right across from June Woods Park,” Henderson said. “So it will allow us to create parking for June Woods Park because currently there is no parking around that particular park.”
Mayor Marcus Muhammad said perhaps EV chargers could be installed on some of the lots to be used for parking. He added unsightly weeds could be cleaned up on other properties, while one of them complements work taking place at a nearby housing development.
“And then the property on Fair, I don’t know the acreage, but that’s a parcel that will complement the $32 million that will be used to completely renovate Buss Projects,” Muhammad said. “So we want to put something adjacent or next to that.”
Muhammad said past foreclosed property purchases made by the city have grown into real opportunities, pointing to the former Mercy Hospital site that’s now being developed into housing and commercial space as part of Project T.
The properties being purchased this year are on Cherry Street, Broadway Avenue, East High Street, South Fair Avenue, Pavone Street, and McCord Street. The cost to the city is about $12,400.
You can see details about all of them below.
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