In her email Konkel did say Occupy Madison is looking at other buildings.
Occupy Madison Inc.'s hopes to purchase a building at 2132 Fordem Ave. for a homeless housing project have been dashed.
Brenda Konkel reports on a couple of local listservs that the group's "offer to purchase the building at 2132 Fordem Ave. has been rejected in favor of an alternate offer." She notes that this is the second time the group seriously considered buying a building that was then "taken off the market."
In a brief interview, Konkel said that she understood why the seller would go with another buyer. "Our offer to purchase had too many contingencies," she says. Occupy was hoping to secure affordable housing trust fund loans to help purchase the building but city staff recommended postponing action on its application until the spring.
The plan had faced pushback from neighbors and others over how the housing project would be managed.
In her email Konkel did say Occupy Madison is looking at other buildings and recently raised more than $11,000 for its housing cooperative named OM House. The group is holding another fundraiser Tuesday night at the Fountain on State Street, 5-7:30 p.m.
Konkel notes that homeless individuals camping out at Token Creek have to vacate the campground on February 17 and at this point have no legal place to go.
[Editor's note: This article was updated at 4:45 p.m. to include comments from Konkel.]
