Protesters entered Bloomington City Hall Monday afternoon to demand a solution for saving 29 low-rent apartments at Seminary Pointe, which could be demolished to make room for a convention center hotel.
Bloomington Homes for All is urging the city Redevelopment Commission (RDC) and the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) to negotiate the apartments’ handover to a land trust.
Read more: Save Seminary Pointe campaign gains momentum with no clear path forward
Organizers had planned to speak at the RDC’s biweekly meeting Monday, but it was taken off the online city calendar. The commission said the schedule was approved in January without a July 6 meeting and the date was shared in error.
Housing advocacy groups organized the rally in response said Sarah Woolford, an organizer with Bloomington Homes for All.
“We felt like there needed to be some sort of public voice that was addressing the RDC and the Mayor's Office, since that original opportunity that would have happened at the RDC meeting today didn't end up happening,” Woolford said.
The fate of the apartments has attracted significant public interest as they represent some of the most affordable housing in one of the least affordable rental markets in the state.
The CIB has explored swapping Seminary Pointe with the RDC for College Square, a property closer to the Convention Center (a proposal unanimously endorsed by City Council) but the commission rejected that plan, favoring a public request for proposals. The city also said in a press release Monday that it hadn’t received an official offer to swap by the board.
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In a press release earlier that day, the Thomson administration said it wants to see the CIB make an offer alongside other developers.
“The Thomson administration continues to support the preservation of the 29 deeply affordable units located at Seminary Pointe,” it said in a statement.
According to the city, working out a deal between the two organizations before the College Square offering deadline “could lead to a lawsuit that delays the project by months or even longer.”
The CIB has said it doesn’t want to submit a proposal and doesn’t need to under an interlocal agreement to by the city and county when they formed the board.
Bryce Greene, an organizer with Housing for All and Bloomington Democratic Socialists of America, said protesters are open to other approaches as long as the apartments are saved.
“These groups should not be at each other’s throats,” he said. “These groups should not be playing this dangerous game of chicken with each other.”
The CIB is expected to choose a hotelier to develop the Seminary Pointe site on July 15 and the RDC has set a July 20 deadline for College Square proposals.
