PREVIOUSLY: Eureka City Schools’ Deal With Mystery Developer for the Jacobs Campus is Dead

###

With just hours left before the scheduled close of escrow — and half a day after the Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees declined a request for another delay in completing the deal — the anonymous corporation AMG Communities - Jacobs, LLC, issued a statement saying it was actually their idea to back out of the land exchange agreement.

The statement, which was sent in response to emailed questions from the Outpost, goes on to accuse the City of Eureka of working to actively repel affordable housing development.

Back in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom designated Eureka as one of 37 “Prohousing” communities in the state, officially recognizing the city’s efforts to cut red tape and speed up housing approvals. A month later, Attorney General Rob Bonta lauded city leaders for acting “swiftly and fiercely” to address the housing crisis and climate crisis through its plans to convert downtown parking lots into apartment complexes.

When reached by phone, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said that AMG’s allegation that the city is to blame for this deal falling through is false.

“That is the most laughable statement I’ve heard from any agency in a very long time,” he said.

Slattery insisted that, if anything, city staff members went out of their way to expedite AMG’s request to rezone the former Jacobs Middle School property. The Eureka City Council approved a “Mixed Neighborhood” overlay zone for that property in April.

“We made sure we did everything in our power to make this happen,” Slattery said of the rezone request.

Here’s the statement from AMG:

###

AMG Communities has decided to withdraw from the exchange agreement with Eureka City Schools for the former Jacobs Middle School property, and to wait until the passage of Measure F, the Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative, on the November ballot to reconsider purchasing the property if it is still available at that time. 

We sought this property and were willing to make a substantial investment in the community because we believe the community supports the construction of badly needed housing at this site. Our investors were willing to pay an above-market price for the property in order to provide as much benefit as possible to the School District.

However, the strident opposition of several City officials, including certain members of the City Council, to efforts to rezone this site for family housing has created a political climate that is too risky for the size of investment needed to bring our vision for the Jacobs site into reality.    

With a few exceptions in southern California, nearly every city in the state is working hard to attract developers interested in providing housing that is affordable to average working residents. The City of Eureka, by comparison, has been working hard to repel this type of investment. That is unfortunate and a loss to City residents.

###

NOTE: This post has been updated from its original version to include comments from Slattery.