FARGO — Fargo's largest public housing facility - and one of the city's tallest buildings - may soon be for sale.The cost of renovating the Fargo High Rise, built in 1970, has reached a point where it makes more sense to sell the aging building and relocate its 240 low-income tenants, said Lynn Fundingsland, executive director of the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Before the 22-story tower can be put on the market, federal housing officials must sign off on the plan. Fundingsland said he expects that by next month, Fargo's housing authority will submit an application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development seeking approval of the sale.

It could take about six months for HUD to decide and possibly three years before the building is vacated, he said.

Fundingsland emphasized that whatever happens, the High Rise tenants, many of them elderly or disabled, will have places to live."We're not in the business of putting people on the street," he said. "We're in the business of housing them."

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Fundingsland said the High Rise has not yet been appraised, but he estimated the asking price would range from $4 million to $6 million.

"We had some interest from different developers, and they're looking at reconfiguring (the building) into, you know, another use," he said, adding that it's unclear what that use would be.

The High Rise at 101 2nd St. S. overlooks downtown and the Red River. At a height of 199 feet, it is Fargo's second-tallest building, after the 207-foot-tall Radisson Hotel.

Although the High Rise offers scenic views, the building needs maintenance that would require gutting the interior, replacing utility lines, updating elevators and dealing with steel framework that's coated with asbestos, an outdated and highly toxic fireproofing technique. It would cost the housing authority $24 million to pay for such a renovation, Fundingsland said.

For years, housing officials tried unsuccessfully to secure funds to rehabilitate the building.

"If we had the money to do it, we would," he said.Proceeds from the sale of the High Rise would go toward constructing two or three smaller public housing facilities on yet-to-be-determined sites, Fundingsland said.

"We wouldn't put 250 (low-income) tenants in one place these days," he said. "The way things are done these days, it's more mixed-income kinds of projects, which is better for the neighborhood, better for the tenants."

If the High Rise sells, tenants would have the option to move into another public housing unit or to receive a voucher to help pay rent in a privately owned apartment, he said.

High Rise tenants have been told about the housing authority's intention to sell the tower. And some of them, like Catherine Simonson, welcome the plan."With all the things wrong with this building, I think it's a great idea," the 67-year-old said. "I'll be glad to get out of here."

Simonson, who's lived in the building for 13 years, said many of the older tenants are upset about the possibility of losing their longtime home. But she won't miss the share of High Rise residents who she said ruin the living experience for others."It's 50-50. There's a lot of good people. There's a lot of not-so-good people," she said.

Randall Strand, 56, was sipping coffee with friends in the community room Wednesday morning. A resident of the High Rise for about 15 years, he wasn't sure what to think of the potential sale.

"I like it here," he said. "I have all kinds of stuff on my walls, religious stuff."

Leo Reuer, a tenant since 1980, said he wouldn't mind leaving behind the High Rise, where he's dealt with cockroaches, bedbugs and people asking him for money."I'm glad to be moving out of here," the 63-year-old said, "because I don't care for the place."

Marcy Fox, who's been a High Rise tenant for a year, said she'd be willing to move even though she just recently became accustomed to living in the building.

"I was starting to like it here," she said.