The Hamlet Town Council continues exploring how to get a new home built on a piece of town-owned land. Last month, Council Member Brian Earnest suggested selling the lot at Lincoln and Pearl streets at a significantly reduced price to a contractor who would build a home to the town’s specifications. But after researching the matter, town officials didn’t think it would be legal to limit a potential sale to only contractors.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Council President Dave Kesvormas said he’s done his own research. He suggested that the town might be able to sell the land to any interested buyer but refund the purchase price if a home is built. “It can be an individual,” he said. “Let’s say if anybody in this room decided they want to buy a house, and we’d put the lot up. It would be a pretty good gig. You’re going to buy a house with $8,000 down, and you build it in the, we were saying, 120 to 180 days. The house comes up. If they meet all the stipulations we make on the sale, they get their $8,000 back.”
Kesvormas directed Town Attorney Martin Bedrock to look into the legality of such an arrangement. Bedrock said he also planned to check with the City of Knox to see how it offers property for sale, but he also wanted to ask other towns, like Winamac and Kouts.
Kesvormas stressed that the town would like to see a home built on the site, since there’s a shortage of houses in the area.
