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Kathy Cargill details Park Point plan and why she’s dropping it
Kathy Cargill told The Wall Street Journal she planned to “spruce up” the neighborhood of Park Point in Duluth but now won’t do anything “to benefit that community.”
DULUTH, Minnesota — An article from The Wall Street Journal over the weekend asks, “Why did a billionaire snap up homes on a sandbar in Duluth?”
It’s a question residents of the Park Point neighborhood have been asking for months with no answers. Now, the person behind it says it was to “spruce up and help modernize the neighborhood for everyone.” But after many articles, questions from residents and the Duluth mayor on her plans, Kathy Cargill tells the WSJ, “The good plans that I have down there for beautifying, updating and fixing up Park Point park or putting up that sports court, forget it. There’s another community out there with more welcoming people than that small-minded community.”
Kathy Cargill is the wife of James R. Cargill II, one of the heirs to the Minnesota-based food company, Cargill. Kathy Cargill’s North Shore LS LLC has been buying and often then demolishing homes on Park Point — the longest freshwater sandbar in the world.
It’s led to a lot of questions.
The WSJ article said, “It got worse after a local reporter got in touch with Cargill in December.”
That local reporter is Jimmy Lovrien of the Duluth News Tribune, who broke the story in December. Lovrien said they first heard rumblings of what was happening last summer. When Lovrien called Cargill, asking her plans for the properties, he said, “She really did not want to talk about that. She insisted of her own privacy and protection. She wasn’t going to share that. Then she threatened to sue the paper if anything was printed.”
According to Lovrien, Cargill currently owns 22 parcels on Park Point. Of the 13 homes, nine have been demolished and three have been permitted for demolition. One home is undergoing significant renovations as Cargill’s family vacation home.
In the DNT article, Cargill is quoted saying about the homes she bought, “The homes that we bought were pieces of crap… I couldn’t imagine living in any of them.”
Cargill addressed her comments to the WSJ, saying many of the homes were too run down to be fixed up.
“That quote kind of, I think, maybe set the tone for everything else that has happened the last three months,” Lovrien said.
Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert sent Cargill a letter, hoping they could discuss Cargill’s plans for Park Point. Meanwhile, he assured residents the beach would remain public.
Like so many, I have been following the Park Point homes being purchased by a single individual. Park Point is a unique Duluth neighborhood, and geographically a place like no other in the world. The plan for these properties is unknown, and that is concerning to many – including me. A few things:
First, about a month ago I sent a letter to Ms Cargill urging her to speak to us about her plans. I received no reply, so intend to send another. I am inviting any of our City Councilors who are interested to co-sign it with me. Communicating intent to the city and our neighbors would go a long way in easing minds.
Second, it appears that in many cases these homes are being purchased at well over market value. And while homeowners are perfectly legal to sell to whomever they want for as much as they want, they can also always choose to NOT sell their property.
Third, I’ve asked the City Attorney for other actions the community might take. We are investigating zoning and other regulations that would apply to future construction and also address future demolitions.
Lastly, PARKS will remain PARKS, and no matter who owns the adjacent properties the beach WILL REMAIN PUBLIC! As will the street end beach access points. I want to be very very clear on this point – public access to Lake Superior is not going anywhere.
Posted by Mayor Roger J. Reinert on Tuesday, March 12, 2024
KARE 11 reached out to the mayor’s office on Monday. We were told Reinert would not have further comment on the matter and that he was focused on the snow storm in Duluth.
However, two weeks ago, Reinert told KARE 11’s Jana Shortal, “My intent in trying to engage her or her team is not adversarial. It’s not aggressive in nature. It’s an open hand… as a leader of the community to indicate what some of the community’s now concerns are and also extend some opportunities to partner with us on some things.”
Reinert said the initial curiosity had led to nervousness by some residents. He said it was a combination of a lack of communication on plans, a tight housing market, and Cargill buying the homes above market value.
“If you went back to the 1980s, you couldn’t get a loan. It was a neighborhood that was not considered desirable. So many are longtime Park Point residents… have real concerns about being taxed out of their homes given the evaluation increases that we’ve seen over the last handful of years and that will certainly come following these purchases,” Reinert said.
Cargill told the WSJ she had planned to build homes for some of her relatives, make improvements to the city park, add a coffee shop and build a complex for pickleball, basketball and street hockey.
But now? She says forget it.
“There’s another community out there with more welcoming people than that small-minded community,” Cargill told the paper.
But it doesn’t answer the question of what will happen now.
Cargill said she didn’t think it was anybody’s business what she did with the properties and that she plans on continuing to enjoy her family’s vacation home.
Lovrien wonders if Cargill is done buying properties on Park Point.
“There are nine homes demolished, three are about to be demolished or permitted to be demolished,” Lovrien said. “She had said that people were approaching her… trying to get her to buy their properties. We’ll see if that keeps happening.”
About the mayor, Cargill told the WSJ, “I think an expression that we all know—don’t pee in your Cheerios—well, he kind of peed in his Cheerios right there, and definitely I’m not going to do anything to benefit that community.”
The next day on X, Reinert posted a picture of his breakfast with the caption, “For the record… I’m more of pancakes guy. #IYKYK.”
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The Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in prices over time, shows the lowest increase in inflation this month in three years.
MINNEAPOLIS — The latest Consumer Price Index released this week shows the cost of goods and services increased 2.4 percent nationwide over the past 12 months, the slowest rate of inflation in three years.
After the Federal Reserve moved to decrease interest rates last month, this week’s CPI report was slightly higher than expected — but not drastically.
“That just means it missed expectations by 0.1 percent. Overall, inflation has continued to come down and that’s the important trend that people should be thinking about,” University of St. Thomas economics professor Tyler Schipper said. “Even though the prices are still high out there, and the sticker shock of the grocery store hasn’t gone away, prices continue to moderate.”
Meanwhile, here in the Twin Cities, the rate of inflation stands at 1.9 percent — even lower than the national average.
Joe Mahon, a regional outreach director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said that’s largely driven by lower housing costs here in the Twin Cities. Also, locally, gasoline prices and medical care costs are lower than the national average, Mahon said, although costs for things like food and household energy are growing faster than the rest of the U.S.
“Last year, it was kind of a big story that we had the lowest inflation rate in the country of all the large cities nationwide,” Mahon said. “That’s not quite true anymore. Even though the rate of inflation here now is lower than it was a year ago, some other cities have seen their inflation rates come down more than us, so we’re kind of more in the middle of the pack now.”
Overall, the downward trend in inflation both locally and nationally means the Federal Reserve is expected to continue cutting rates. The Fed has its next policy meeting scheduled for early November, shortly after the presidential election.
After a streak of lower-than-expected jobs reports, Professor Schipper said the latest indicators in the labor market this month will help inform Fed policy.
“The unemployment rate fell, we created 250,000-plus new jobs, we actually revised the previous two months upwards. And we’re always worried about putting too much weight on a single data point, but it did change the view of where the labor market is at,” Schipper said. “There will be conversation about how quickly to lower rates but I think they’re going in that direction, where we’ll see, at least one — maybe, possibly, hopefully — two rate cuts by the end of the year, and then more quarterly rate cuts going into 2025.”
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the victim’s family agree with the findings of the MN Conviction Review Unit that Edgar Barrientos-Quintana is innocent.
MINNEAPOLIS — In a court hearing 16 years to the day that 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson was killed in a drive-by shooting in south Minneapolis, the prosecution and defense both asked a judge to release Edgar Barrientos-Quintana — the man convicted of first-degree murder in his death — as he looked on via a video monitor from the prison.
“I will get a decision out as soon as I can,” said Anoka County Judge John McBride.
McBride was brought into the case to avoid a conflict of interest, as Judge Hilary Lindell Caligiuri was a prosecutor in the case.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Barrientos-Quintana’s defense agreed to stipulated facts they provided the judge, along with several exhibits for him to review.
The state’s Conviction Review Unit said they believe Barrientos-Quintana could not have committed the crime because he was seen in a video in a grocery store in Saint Paul, 33 minutes before the shooting in south Minneapolis occurred.
Friday in court, Barrientos-Quintana looked on remotely from a screen at the prison as the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office told the judge it agreed with Barrientos’ defense.
The victim’s family was in court hoping for the defendant’s release.
“My only concern today is the judge comes back with a decision as soon as possible and honors the decision and the attorneys’ decision and releases him. I’m hoping,” said Jesse’s sister Tina Rosebear.
There is a new direct flight option coming to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.
MINNEAPOLIS — You can travel from the Twin Cities to Denmark’s capital city without any layovers starting this coming spring.
Delta Airlines will launch the first MSP to Copenhagen flight in May 2025, with flights going through the summer.
“This route creates an invaluable connection between two major SkyTeam partner hubs, providing unrivaled connectivity and travel options for customers traveling between Scandinavia and North America,” said Joe Esposito, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Network Planning in a news release.
Copenhagen is the largest city in Denmark and is a major tourist destination in the region. The CCO at Copenhagen Airport Peter Krogsgaard said in a news release they are excited to welcome more American visitors.
Delta is calling the new flight option “Scandi Summer.” The flights are in partnership with the Scandinavian Airlines System, which Delta signed a codeshare agreement with in September.
“The codeshare agreement will improve connection opportunities for customers flying between North America and Scandinavia and will offer reciprocal codeshare and frequent flyer benefits including the ability to earn and redeem SkyMiles or SAS EuroBonus points across both carriers,” Delta explained.
Delta said this summer will be its largest ever in terms of trans-Atlantic flights, “with over 700 weekly flights to 33 European destinations and beyond.”
In September, Delta announced it will begin offering nonstop service from MSP to Rome next spring as part of its 2025 trans-Atlantic schedule. An airline spokesperson said the flights will occur four times a week starting in May.
For more information about Delta’s 2025 trans-Atlantic flight plans, visit its website.
