Why I (and the neighbors) hate the house 1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul

Posted by justinelee in Blog

If you live in Saint Paul, MN, you’re likely aware of the ongoing problems with construction companies tearing down old, classic midwestern homes. Developers are replacing these with MacMansions that fill up the whole city plot. You can read about this in several articles in the Twin Cities including:

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_28524884/st-paul-alters-highland-and-mac-groveland-zoning

“The new rules, sponsored by Ward 3 city council member Chris Tolbert, come in response to a heavy uptick in housing teardowns and reconstructions in the two neighborhoods. In many cases, homebuyers are purchasing the cheapest housing stock — the neighborhood’s smaller, older homes — and expanding the house’s footprint within the lot lines as much as legally allowable.”

Unfortunately, this has recently happened to my street – and my tiny little 800-square foot house next door on James Avenue is now shadowed by the MacMansion at 1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105.

This is what the original house at 1623 James Avenue used to look like:

Original cute cottage at 1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul, MN

What it looks like now:

Construction of 1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul, the biggest, most expensive house on the block. We hate you, already.

The local paper, The Villager, recently published several articles on this. Sadly, you can see my cute little house featured in each article here next to the new construction at this house:

Villager article 1623 James Ave SP

The Villager published another article on the unethical code violations – which have now been changed, in a second article here:

Villager 2nd article on 1623 James Ave Aug 2015

Since Westar Homes  and Copa Enterprise, LLC have begun construction on the house, 2 neighbors have upped and moved, including myself. Wouldn’t you move if this was your new backyard view, with the sunset of Mattock’s Park now obstructed?

1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul, officially blocking all our backyards now.

In fact, it’s been such an annoyance to the whole neighborhood that it’s been mentioned numerous times on the MacGroveland Facebook page and Historic Hamline Village Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/historichamlinevillage/posts/824966514261021

So, why do the neighbors HATE this house? Not only does it put my house next door on James Avenue – and all the other houses in the surrounding area – into complete shadow after 3 pm, but now it blocks the beautiful sunset that we used to be able to view from our backyards over Mattocks park.

Construction of the MacMansion house that all the neighbors HATE!

Another problem? The grade: while it’s illegal (and unethical) to change the grade of a house, the contractors at 1623 James Avenue build the grade 2-3 feet higher than their neighbors, resulting in significant flooding onto my property. (This has since been rectified thanks to Chris Colbert’s office and numerous emails to the City of St. Paul Building Official/Department of Safety & Inspections).

We had about 12 feet (by 1 foot) of puddling water accumulating onto our property and flooding our garden. While we contacted the City Council and City of St. Paul Building Official Department of Safety & Inspections to have inspectors come out and address this, the problem has only been partially solved. We requested that all the gutters be directed off towards the back of the house (towards the north side) so it wasn’t draining into our backyard; sadly, now they just have a huge hose that directs this towards the community alley, resulting in a mini-ice skating rink during the winter.

Sump pump draining off the MacMansion house on 1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul

Sump pump from 1623 James Avenue, Saint Paul, draining with a long plastic tube directed onto my house

Flooding onto my property from the intentionally directed sump pump from 1623 James

Another problem? They literally hooked up a 5 foot black hose directly onto OUR property to drain their sump pump – unethical and illegal folks! After contacting the city inspectors yet again, the developers moved it to the west side of the house (directly under the deck near the tree) to comply. This drains directly into the alley and makes it another mini-ice skating rink.

What I don’t get? Why you wouldn’t want:

• A yard
• For that price, to live on Summit Avenue or in a richer neighborhood
• Why you want to be the biggest house in a small neighborhood that averages home prices of $200-250,000
• Why you’d want a 3 car garage in the heart of the cities (Please go to the suburbs or 1st ring for this)
• Why you’d want neighbors who are pissed but too Minnesota-nice to say anything
• Why you’d want multi-mini ice skating rinks in the alley (that you created)
• Why you’d want to overlook my garden – oh wait, there are no windows in the kitchen so you can’t see right into my backyard 2 feet away

Interestingly enough, while they purchased the original house for $150,000, they listed it at $719,000. And being that it’s been sitting empty for over a year with generic-Tyvek still on the house (awaiting more siding… did you run out of siding or money?), it’s been recently lowered to $699,000. While I don’t have an issue with a company wanting to make a profit, did you really have to make this house this big that the whole neighborhood hates you and rallies to change the city code because of this specific house?

If you’re considering buying thisMacMansion, let me know if you want to buy my house… you can convert it to a larger skating rink and actually have a yard.

P.S. To see some of the neighborhood complaints that were filed directly to the City Council, check out here:

Comments from some of the MacGroveland neighbors