Manzanita Properties One LLC donated the property adjacent to 80 Miller St., Centerburg, to the Knox County Land Bank in June 2022. The 2.4-acre site was formerly home to Canterbury Villa nursing center.
Manzanita Properties One LLC donated the property adjacent to 80 Miller St., Centerburg, to the Knox County Land Bank in June 2022. The 2.4-acre site was formerly home to Canterbury Villa nursing center.
MOUNT VERNON — A former care facility in Centerburg could potentially become the site of a smaller-scale multi-family housing unit.
Manzanita Properties One LLC donated the property adjacent to 80 Miller St. to the Knox County Land Bank in June. The 2.4-acre site was formerly home to Canterbury Villa nursing center.
Vacant since 2017, the building is not salvageable. Rain damaged the interior, and wildlife has made it a habitat.
“We plan to remove the asbestos, demolish the building, and then work to redevelop the site,” explained Sam Filkins, vice president of the land bank.
“For the investment somebody would have to make, it really wouldn't be feasible [to rehab it],” added Land Bank President Jeff Gottke. “Ideally, someone could do multi-family housing — a condominium or a duplex that is on the smaller side to help move the housing situation forward.”
The parcel is zoned multi-family.
Centerburg Mayor Greg Sands said there has already been interest in the parcel, adding that the site is ideal for multi-family housing since village services are in place and there is available road access.
“The land bank is graciously looking at what the needs are,” he said. “The land bank has had great success everywhere else. If their interest has been broadened, they deserve a lot of compliments for that.”
In addition to Canterbury Villa, the land bank is working with the village of Danville, the City of Mount Vernon, and a private owner in Fredericktown on demolition projects.
Demolition started on the house at 7 High St. in Fredericktown on July 5. Plans call for demolishing the former quilt shop at 502 Market St. in Danville at the end of July. Later this year, the city's street garage at 3 Cougar Drive will come down.
Knox County projects (and estimated costs) funded through the grant include:
•503 W. High/7 N. Norton, $41,351 (completed)
•7 High St., Fredericktown, $16,500 (July 5)
•502 Market St., Danville, $58,300
•3 Cougar Dr., Mount Vernon, $17,000
•18 E. Vine St., Mount Vernon, $118,000
•6 structures at Cooper Progress Park, approximately $199,000
"We are not demolishing useable buildings at CPP," Filkins said. "The buildings we are focusing on are in bad shape, and their location hinders the marketability of the larger, more economically significant structures."
“The land bank does not own the Fredericktown, Danville, or street garage properties,” Gottke said. “Those were all done with collaboration with villages and property owners.”
“The good thing is the demolition money is being spread around the whole county,” said Teresa Bemiller, president of the land bank board and a county commissioner.
In other land bank news, Siemens will pay a little over $71,000 for exhaust stacks in various buildings in Cooper Progress Park. Gottke said the design work is completed for the common areas in the complex, and the Property Owners Association documents are in the final review stage.
