Westville Complex Sells For $50M

Just a thought. I can understand how some might want the residents of Westville Village aprtments to become a part of the larger Westville village community, but we must also understand that that might not be what the residents want. Not everyone lives like that. Some folks just want to go to work and go home. They are fine with the friends they have and the activities they engage in. Why do the new owners need to bring a "deeper commitment to identifying with the Village"? Why can't we just leave folks alone? As long as they are not bothering anyone, or bringing anything negative to the neighborhood, leave them alone. We have a gentleman in our community who walks then entire neighborhood, barely speaking or engaging iwth anyone. He does not like nor desire contact. He is quiet, not threatening, and picks up trash as he walks along ... minding his business. He would come to CMT meetings for information ... never talked, never engaged ... ate some cookies, drank some coffee and left. That was what he wanted and we ... his community, supported that.The very brief comments from the folks of Westville Village seem to say the thing, ... 'we like it here, bye'. We gotta sometimes just meet folks where they're at.

As one prolix NHI commentator (🤓) has noted, there has been a consistent trend of large apartment complexes (and developable land) selling for well over its appraised value.This will likely affect the revaluation that will take place this October, since sales price is the best indicator of a property's fair market value. By law, property tax assessments must be based on this value, except for properties in the 490 program.

This will result in a shift in property taxes to these types of properties and away from small apartment buildings and homes, whose recent sales prices have generally reflected their appraised values. This will allow the city to raise more revenue without raising the mill rate. But it will exacerbate the city's housing affordability problem.

The Blake St Cafe property proposed development seems much more integrated with the commercial heart of the Village by it's design. While the Village always seemed to end at 500 Blake, having this new building orientation facing the River and the Rock and its proposed West River walkway and courtyard and walk through connection mid block with Whalley Ave should draw out and welcome the neighboring "Westville Village" complex residents who are currently gated and cut off from the heart of the community. It's hard to feel welcomed by the streetscape when it is inward and gated, and much easier when one has pathways and courtyards that draw people in and out of the area. Also the sidewalk alongside both these complexes on Blake St are narrow, with low curbs and broken, uneven and slanted sidewalks. The high traffic combined with the sidewalk make this stretch of Blake unfriendly and intimidating. If the sidewalks and crosswalks along Blake were redone to have higher curbs, better pavement conditions and raised crosswalks at the intersection with Valley St and Whalley Ave, and at the entrance to the park's playground across the street from the Westville complex and perhaps planters with flowers to help create a visual barrier between pedestrians and traffic and better lighting at night, the residents would find themselves more likely to walk from the complex to the park and the village comfortably. Maybe both complexes can work together when the 500 Blake property gets built to improve the streetscape to the benefit of their residents.
And I agree with both Hill Resident and Kevin McCarthy, property values will rise, affordability will go down, and not everyone wants to be social, but the owners and property managers of both these complexes can make things better for their residents, their property values and the village by being great neighbors and adding value beyond their walls to the community by getting involved with the community and it's development.

@ hillresident...couldnt agree more. I really don't want any more involvement with the "Village" than I have now. I go to Lena's once in a while cause it's a fantastic place and the only place I can occasionally afford.
Westville village hates to admit the truth. It is a clique. The people are pretty much the same and they behave that way. If you like that way of life, great. If you don't, differences are not encouraged or welcomed.

I don't think the Westville Village folks understand that the problem here is how unpleasant, and frankly dangerous if not terrifying, it is to walk along Blake/Whalley/Valley, due to traffic speeds and niuse.

The sidewalks along Blake in particular are unpleasant because there are no parked cars to buffer pedestrians from the speeding traffic. And even on Whalley where there are parking spaces, there are sometimes no cars parked, which means that that buffer isn't there.

If you want a connected, village-like atmosphere, you have to design streets with pedestrians in mind. You can not rely on parked cars to be a part of that because sometimes cars just aren't parked there.

Currently, the streets look like as if they were designed by an insane highway engineer from 1950s-era Detroit.

"The people that I speak with who live in that complex are relatively happy," Furlow said. "They pretty much keep to themselves. It's a good community. You don't hear of much crime or anything else going on. It's sort of a gated community."

Furlow is misinformed, as always. It's a hot spot for car thefts and car break-ins, and it's not a gated community

He said he's eager to know what the new owners' plans are for the complex: Will they be making any major changes? Raising rents? Adding or removing structures? Renovating the complex?

Why should he care if they raise rents? It's not his money. He and the other BOAs will surly raise taxes, but for some reason private landlords shouldn't be able to raise rents?

HillResident, the sentence you quoted refers to the new owners, not the residents. It would be nice if residents were more involved with the neighborhood, but that is their choice. The new owners can facilitate such involvement, by publicizing CMT meetings, events in Westville Village, etc. They can also seek out resident input on the traffic issues Anonymous describes.

I would love to see the new owners better manage stromwater runoff from this property. When I toured the surface property about eight years ago I spoke to a representative of management in their office. I learned that the impervious surfaces (roofs, walkways and what would normally be ground) all drained into the sewer system except the ground floor parking garage which drained directly into the West River flowing nearby. There are many good options to reroute the downspouts from the sewer system (which directly contribute to increased combined sewer overflows) and/or green the large impervious surface area above the garage area.
If I'm incorrect about this perhaps they could explain to those of us working on stormwater management what the current status is. We'd be happy to meet with them.

I care what happens in my neighborhood. If rents go up, my neighbors who can't afford them go out. When properties are flipped for ever increasing prices, rents will go up. I care when a business spreads trash around. I care when a business cleans up. I care when gas stations don't shovel snow from their sidewalks because I'm a pedestrian. I care when the city piles snow at corner crosswalks because not everyone can climb mountains of snow. I care when my neighbor's car is stolen. My car might be next. The more people care, and take responsibility, the better the neighborhood.

I'm glad we have in Ward 27 an Alder who cares. I would not want one who doesn't.