City sells Lopau property, moves lot border for trees

The city of Luverne is selling the former Lynn Lopau house to Greg and Janet Burger, according to action at the Feb. 9 council meeting.
Last fall the city purchased 10 acres of land from Lopau for $661,500 to develop for future housing.
The city paid $475,000 for the house, garage and two acres, and $186,500 for the rest of the eight acres, including two outbuildings.
However, since last fall the city invested $25,000 in remodeling and updates to the home and in January listed it for sale at $529,900.
The Burgers, however, are paying $498,000 and also negotiated an extra 10 feet along the north property border to include a line of evergreen trees.
At Tuesday’s meeting, city building inspector Chad McClure said the 10-foot concession won’t affect platting of the future housing development.
“Those lots were exceptionally deep, so what we’re losing isn’t anything significant,” he said.
Mayor Pat Baustian thanked McClure and city finance director Barb Berghorst for their work preparing the house for sale.
“They got everything tidied and dressed up,” Baustian said. “And public works put in hours … it took a lot of hands to get the work done.”
Councilwoman Caroline Thorson said she is pleased with the process.
“I’m happy to see that it’s sold,” she said. “It’s a beautiful property and I hope the Burgers are happy there.”
Closing on the sale is set for March.
The rest of the land that the city intends to develop for housing is valued at $141,500 — or $17,687 per acre.
There is no timeline in place for dirt work as housing needs will depend on current subdivisions under construction.
The Lopau subdivision will eventually be platted for a mix of twin homes and single-family houses, which is what Luverne most needs, according to the latest housing study.