Is a St. Anne's Land Swap In The Works?

Another baby step step forward toward fulfillment of another twisted Boss Godfrey obsession

In the interest of keeping the discussion moving along this morning, we'll direct our readers' attention to an item appearing on page 2B of the Top of Utah section, reporting that the council adopted an ordinance at last night's meeting which could possibly pave the way for that St. Anne's Shelter land swap, which has been a focus of Mayor Matthew "Blessed Whitebread" Godfrey's obsession for the past several years. Scott Schwebke's opening paragraphs provide the gist:

OGDEN — The city council adopted an ordinance Tuesday night that may enable the construction of a $10 million apartment complex in West Ogden for the homeless served by St. Anne’s Center.
The ordinance, which amends the city’s municipal code, allows low-income multiple-unit housing in manufacturing zones provided it’s part of a campus or in the same building as a homeless shelter.
In addition, the ordinance requires that counseling and other lifestyle services be offered at the campus.
The ordinance is tied to a proposal from Mayor Matthew Godfrey calling for the city to give St. Anne’s about 2 1/2 acres at 33rd Street and Pacific Avenue, zoned manufacturing, for the construction of new shelter, said John Patterson, the city’s chief administrative officer.
Under Godfrey’s proposal, St. Anne’s, in exchange for the Pacific Avenue property, would give the city the land that houses its existing shelter at 137 W. Binford St.

Here's the full Scott Schwebke writeup:

• New ordinance clears way for possible St. Anne’s move

Unlike the last unfortunate go-round, Mr. Schweke's story indicates that the St. Anne's board of directors won't be completely blind-sided by a proposal to move St. Anne's and its homeless clients out of sight (and out of mind) this time, although Ogden CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson does frankly admit that this latest effort to whisk St. Anne's off to the Ogden boonies still isn't exactly what you'd call "a done deal":

"St. Anne’s board of directors has not yet agreed to the land swap proposal, said Patterson, who estimated it would cost the organization about $4 million to build a new homeless shelter."

Inasmuch as St. Anne's will need to come up with multi-millions in dollars to build a new facility, logic dictates the query, where will the construction money come from? Sounds like a big nut to crack, for a charitable institution which serves the homeless. But what do we know? We're just a cranky blogger, after all, with a mere 30 years experience in real estate finance. Perhaps St. Anne's has a money tree growing out there somewhere, for all we know.

We''ll therefore continue to watch the St. Anne's story as it develops; but we certainly won't hold our breath waiting for an early upcoming announcement that the City and St. Anne's have entered into a binding agreement.

That's it for now. And yes, we do recognise that yesterday's blockbuster article is "a tough act to follow." But time marches on ineluctably, dunnit?

You're all welcome to chime in with your own 2¢ on the latest manifestion of the St. Anne's topic nevertheless.