People displaced by the Virginia Avenue New Homes Project will receive financial compensation from the city of East Lansing for some moving and real estate expenses.

"There's a long standing tradition for urban development programs to provide assistance to those that might be displaced as a result of redeveloping," City Manager Ted Staton said. "The federal government mandates it by law. It's a fair requirement to place on us."

The city is willing to pay the costs normally attributed to the seller of the home, including transfer and state taxes, recording fees, title charges and closing costs.

People who move away would also be eligible for up to $1,000 in moving costs, and rental property owners would get $250 for the removal of personal property.

There are 23 homes on the 600 block of Virginia Avenue that city officials are trying to acquire. In their place, the city's staff wants to build 39 new homes and condominiums.

"We are currently in the process of doing preliminary interviews with the property owners," said Tim Dempsey, the city's community and economic development administrator. "We are filling them in about the acquisition process. Those preliminary interviews are happening simultaneously to appraisals. We hope to begin presenting offers to property owners within the next 30 to 60 days."

Although the city's staff members are confident they will be able to obtain most properties on the block, Erick Friestrom, a 27-year-old surveyor who used to own a home at 601 Virginia Ave., said many of his former neighbors aren't interested in selling.

"It's a good idea, but I don't think they are going to get a lot of people to sell," he said. "There are very few people that actually want to sell. A couple people are saying the city is going to have to pay too much for them to sell."

Friestrom said he sold his house to the city because it was already up for sale and was a good personal opportunity.

"I owned it for three years and actually was trying to get rid of it," he said. "The city got the funds and came and made an offer. I had lived there for a year and then rented it out for the next two years. I just graduated from Ferris State and got a job down here."

The city gave Friestrom $107,000 for the home.

Acquiring the other homes shouldn't be too problematic, Dempsey said, and added talks with some property owners have gone very well.

"We've had a half dozen people indicate they are interested in selling," he said. "The decision will hinge on what kind of offer we will present. We've had some people say, 'We may or may not be interested, but put an offer up and we will go from there.' We understand that we have some that might not be willing to sell, so we will work around them and proceed with the project as best we can."