Another attempt to save historic building in downtown Garnett and add a potential new business. The Garnett City Commission discussed a land bank involving Denise’s Cafe. Lank banks are governmental entities or nonprofit corporations that are focused on the conversion of vacant, abandoned, and tax delinquent properties into productive use. In some sense, these are properties the private market has altogether rejected. In this case, Denise’s Cafe is in the Old Pennsylvania Hotel in downtown Garnett. The building is in bad shape, has been condemned for years and was not purchased in the latest county tax sale. In an effort to find a way to save the building, city manager Chris Weiner says there has been an interest in the building and a land bank may be the answer.
Weiner says he would like to act quickly and get more discussion on the agenda for the next meeting and then present it to the county commissioners at a joint meeting on February 24th. The building has been empty for years and has been deemed unsafe. There are about $22,000 in back taxes on the building, something potential buyers are scared away by. Placing the building in a land bank would wipe out that tax.
