St. Louis County Signs Off To Sell Kozy To Duluth

A collaboration between St. Louis County and the city of Duluth is moving into a true overtaking of the old and rundown Kozy building.

“It’s just a really positive step. It shows a good partnership between the city and the county and we hope we can continue to have more success stories,” said Barbara Hayden, St. Louis County’s director of economic development.

The old Kozy on East 1st Street and 2nd Avenue East has been boarded up and a major eyesore since it was gutted by fire in 2010.

But now, that’s about to change with the county and city signing off on a purchase agreement.

On Tuesday, the county board approved the sale of the tax-forfeited property to the Duluth Economic Development Authority (DEDA) for $75,000.

The agreement requires St. Louis County to provide $325,000 from its Economic Development Fund to get the property back to live and out of blight.

This collaboration opens the door DEDA to get marketing the site for future development.

“Just reducing and eliminating the blight has a positive impact on the neighborhood and hopefully brings the whole neighborhood up. And we are eager for new development on that site,” Hayden said.

DEDA hopes to have a developer and a plan for the site within the next year.