Cook County sells land to HRA for future Hamilton Habitat project
After several weeks of discussion and working to create a legal description, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted on Jan. 14 to convey a parcel of public land to the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA), earmarked for a future Hamilton Habitat project.
The sale has been part of the board discussion for the past several weeks. It is located at the intersection of the Gunflint Trail and Creechville Road. While the final board of commissioner meetings of 2024 included discussion of transferring the land to the HRA, a lack of a legal description of the plot caused some delay.
At the Jan. 14 meeting, Charlie Troval of North Shore Land Survey explained that the parcel’s 100 year history with the City of Grand Marais and Cook County made creating a legal description for the lot complicated. He explained, “There was just a lot of paperwork, digging and trying to just come up with something that made sense to get to this point of being able to have a legal description of what HRA and Hamilton habitat would like to acquire.”
With the legal description in place, the commissioners opted to sell the land to the HRA with the understanding that it will be conveyed to Hamilton Habitat for a project that would comprise of six single family homes. Anna Hamilton of Hamilton Habitat previously told WTIP that she hopes that construction on the houses will begin in 2026, but that it will hinge on whether the project is awarded funding by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRR).
The board voted unanimously to sell the parcel, with the commissioners sharing their thoughts on the choice before the vote. District 1 Commissioner Deb White stated her support for the sale, emphasizing the value she saw in the land going to a locally based organization. She described it as a “pleasure and honor” to be able to vote in support of the sale that would make the future project possible.
While he ultimately did vote to approve the sale, District 3 Commissioner Dave Mills said during the meeting that he had some hesitations. Mills spoke at previous meetings about his reservations, questioning whether the best way to address housing needs was the use of public land for development of single-family homes for individual ownership. He explained his decision to support the sale despite his hesitations, saying “It’s really important if we’re trying to make strides towards solving our housing crisis, that that we do take action, and we do compromise and and try to try to make progress. So kind of, kind of, the idea is, it may not be a perfect solution, but it’s much better than no solution.”
Audio of the discussion preceding the vote on Jan. 14 can be found below. Board Chair Ginny Storlie, who represents District 5, introduced the resolution to approve the sale.
Kirsten Wisniewski January 15, 2025
