Barker’s Island land sale done deal

Officials with the city of Superior and a development group signed an agreement Tuesday to develop three acres of Barker’s Island.

The city’s Redevelopment Authority and City Council in May voted to sell the property to and approve a development agreement with the Barker’s Island Development Corp., the company that originally developed housing on the island. Today there are 27 homes on 10 acres of the island. Those homes built on 10 acres of land that originally cost $300,000 when it was sold in 1989 are worth about $10 million dollars and make a significant contribution to Superior’s tax base, said Jack Culley, president of the development corporation.

The corporation will pay $225,000 for the last three acres of developable land on the manmade island, under the terms of the agreement.

The corporation will establish the utilities and prepare building sites, Culley told the authority in May.

The development agreement calls for the construction of single and multifamily homes on the site formerly used for cradle storage by the marina, and undeveloped areas on Marina Drive. Nine building sites will be prepared, three on the waterfront.

Culley said the type of homes – single family or duplexes – will be driven by market demand.

The project’s first phase is scheduled for completion Dec. 31, 2012, and is estimated to cost about $3 million, and will begin when the first site is sold, Culley said.

Three previous attempts to develop the property over the past decade were voted down including two proposals by Barker’s Island Development Corp. A proposal for townhomes on four acres of land – which included an area now used by the marina for cradle storage and a buffer between homes – was also turned down.

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