The Babbitt City Council approved a $1.8 million sale of the 130-acre West Babbitt Development to Solum Holdings, LLC.
Solum will take responsibility for the construction of up to 104 single-family homes and up to 70 apartmentunitsorothermulti-family housing units, contained within eight to 10 multi-family buildings.
Mayor Andrea Zupancich said the development will increase the city’s tax base, potentially lowering future levy rates.
“It’s a very big thing for the City of Babbitt and I’m proud to say it all came together,” Zupancich said.
Zupancich added that she did not serve as a real estate agent for anyone on either the seller’s side or the buyer’s side, and she will not receive any commission or monetary benefit from the sale.
West Babbitt will be conveyed to Solum in four phases, with the first section transferring hands within 30 days of the development’s infrastructure completion.
All infrastructure is scheduled to be in the ground by September 2026 and has been accomplished by the city through a contract with civil construction service Rachel Contracting.
The city received grants for nearly all of the development’s infrastructure work, save for one $785,000 bond. The total sale price will more than cover the city’s costs.
“Our prayers have been answered, basically,” said council member Duane Lossing. “We got $4.2 million worth of infrastructure in the ground for $785,000, (which) is what it would have cost us as taxpayers. Now it’s going to cost us nothing.”
“This is really a big thing for the city. It’s a little bit more than we expected,” said council member Jim Lassi. “We’ve been hoping this would come to fruition for quite a few months.”
