A flashy McLaren-driving member of America’s fourth-richest family is “worrying” neighbors and raising eyebrows after buying 10 of their homes and calling them “a riot”.
Kathy Cargill is listed as the manager of North Shore LS, LLC, a private entity shopping real estate in Park Point — a beautiful neighborhood along seven miles of Lake Superior sand dunes in Duluth, Minnesota.
She is the wife of billionaire James Cargill II, one of the heirs to Cargill, Inc., based in Wayzata, Minnesota.
America’s largest privately held company, Cargill is a major seller of food and beauty products including cocoa, soy and oils and owns brands such as Purina pet food.
So far, reportedly, North Shore has bought 10 properties along Park Point over the past year — sometimes paying hundreds of thousands of dollars over the home’s appraisal.
All told, according to the StarTribune in Duluth, North Shore spent a total of $2 million above the estimated market value price for most of the 10 properties it purchased.
The locals don’t know what Cargill is doing. But they fear a changing atmosphere in their quaint lakeside community, as well as rising taxes and a tightening housing market where there are already problems.
Kathy Cargill, pictured with her McLaren, is listed as the manager of a company that bought 10 properties on the sands of Duluth, Minnesota — making locals nervous. McLaren Automotive/YouTube North Shore LS LLC is buying homes like these for hundreds of thousands of dollars above estimated market value. The home has an assessed value of $328,700 — but was purchased for $900,000. Google Maps
As 93-year-old Brooks Anderson told the Duluth News Tribune, his nightmare scenario is for Park Point to become “a part-time playground for the rich.”
Cargill’s bedside manner, or lack thereof, didn’t help.
“The house we bought was junk,” he told the Duluth News Tribune about the immediate demolition of several houses, some of which are around 100 years old. “I can’t imagine living in any of them.”
Cargill, seen here with his McLaren collection, married into the fourth richest family in the US. McLaren Brasil/Facebook McLarens like those in the Cargill collection, can cost up to $1 million each. McLaren Automotive/ YouTube
Danny O’Neil, a longtime Park Point resident, was thrilled with the score he received on his modest, 1,500-square-foot home: North Shore paid him $825,000, while the home was appraised at $370,000.
“Christmas came early this year,” O’Neil told The Post.
On the other hand, the “filth” comment stung. “That’s my house,” he said. “It was a family home that was an old beach house. That [remark] make me feel bad No doubt, he was trying to justify tearing them down. But give me a break.”
Another local, Dave Poulin, told The Post: “Kathy Cargill needs a public relations person. These are properties that should be hung up and lived in. She says they’re uninhabitable. They haven’t announced their intentions and we can only speculate.”
The house is worth $197,600 — but Cargill paid $350,000 for it. Google Maps
Cargill did not respond to The Post’s request for an interview or comment.
Locals told The Post that Cargill had limited interaction with people who might be his neighbors in the modest community where residents catch trout for dinner — Lake Superior is on one side of the sandbar and the busy Duluth Harbor Basin on the other — and help plant community garden.
It has been reported that Cargill is offering to donate additional pavers to the community park. But he did not fully explain his intentions.
Danny O’Neil sold his home to an LLC managed by Kathy Cargill. “Christmas came early this year,” he told The Post. Courtesy of Danny OâNeil O’Neil’s home was appraised for $370,000 and sold for $825,000. Courtesy of Danny OâNeil
“We wish we knew what was going to happen,” Coral McDonnel, 83, who spent most of her life in Park Point, told The Post. “They bought the lot next to our house, and they demolished three houses and two large garages.”
As he spoke, McDonnel noticed the noisy work going on at a nearby property that North Shore bought.
“I don’t know what they’re doing,” he said. “There was a big drill and it looked like it was drilling into the ground.”
WW Cargill founded Cargill, Incorporated, now America’s largest privately held company. Cargill
He is also concerned about landscape changes and possible erosion.
“They fell a lot of trees, and that’s sad. We need trees to store sand [on grounds along the lake] rather than coming in big shots,” McDonnel said. “I’m concerned about our community and our neighborhood.”
Cargill’s husband is a descendant of WW Cargill, who launched his eponymous company in 1865 with a grain warehouse. It has since grown into a $50 to $75 billion goliath, dealing in food production and distribution, as well as financial services and venture capital.
According to Forbes, the Cargills are the fourth richest family in the US, with $47 billion divided among about 23 relatives.
The house was valued at $239,500 and sold for $500,000. Google Maps
Although the family is mostly unaware of its wealth, Cargill is known for its love of McLaren supercars, which can sell for more than $1 million each and top speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour.
In a video touting his four-car collection, he described his McLaren as “driveable art.”
Tom Rauchenfel, a Park Point resident, has seen one of the cars zip by several times a day.
“I heard the sound of the engine, jumped in my truck and followed it,” Rauchenfel said. “We don’t see many of those cars around here.
Cargill bought this Park Point home for $2.5 million and, according to neighbor Tom Rauchenfel, “was stripped [it] down to the bare studs.” Google world
“He drove to the house [the LLC] already owned” — a lakefront stretch purchased in 2021 for $2.5 million, Rauchenfel said. “They stripped it down to bare studs and completed the construction a few months ago. It’s just a beautiful, empty house.”
O’Neil was one of a handful of area residents who had met the Cargills when he sold them his home.
“The first time I met Jim, he was wearing dirty black jeans and a dirty shirt,” O’Neil said of the agribusiness heir who Forbes says is worth $5 billion and is doing homework on time. “I didn’t think he was a billionaire. We talked about fishing and lakes and lighthouses. It’s a blue-collar conversation.”
Annie Harala, district commissioner of St. Louis County, told The Post that some neighbors have asked others not to sell to Cargill. Courtesy of Annie Harala
He chatted with Kathy too: “She said she wanted to build a modest house for her grandson who is going to the University of Minnesota Duluth and taking environmental science.”
O’Neil speculated that a billionaire’s idea of modest would be an improvement over the original structure.
There is concern that the North Shore’s favorable prices will increase taxes in Park Point. Harala recalled being at “a meeting with concerned neighbors in the area who were wondering what was going to happen with the tax.”
Poulin – who has seen his taxes rise from $4,000 to $6,500 – worries that the cheap purchase price will only contribute to continued increases. On the other hand, that is unlikely to happen immediately, because this purchase price is considered “external”.
A group of homes purchased by North Shore LLC. Long-time local residents worry that these inflated sales will lead to higher taxes. Google world
Annie Harala, district commissioner for St. Louis County, where Park Point is located, said some locals are becoming so skeptical that they are closing ranks.
“There is a sentiment of neighbors asking other neighbors not to sell to Cargill,” Harala told The Post, acknowledging that it was a big ask. “Unless you’re part of the one percent, you’re going to be hard pressed not to sell. Neighbors have received life-changing money.”
O’Neil, who moved into a new home not too long after selling it to the LLC, admits that his famous “Minnesota nice” attitude has kept him in good stead.
“People are afraid their property taxes will go up and wonder what their next-door neighbors will look like,” he said of selling his home. “My neighbors may not agree with it. But they won’t tell me.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
