A substantially wealthy woman in Minnesota who is a part of America’s fourth-richest family and has spent millions of dollars on property there is drawing even more attention to herself as she incited a feud with residents of the area who had concerns about her motivations.
Kathy Cargill, the wife of billionaire James Cargill II, one of the heirs to food-industry conglomerate Cargill Inc., began raising suspicion in the last year when she splurged about $2 million on 10 homes in Park Point, a residential neighborhood along a Lake Superior sandbar in Duluth.
After these purchases, she proceeded to buy at least another 10 homes for a total of $20 million.
When locals of the area who were concerned about her plans for the properties she called “pieces of crap,” started raising questions, Cargill retaliated aggressively, and canceled her declared intention of helping develop the neighborhood.
The situation also came to a head after Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert wrote a letter last month asking Cargill to reveal her plans to city officials.
“So like many in Duluth, I am also concerned about all the Cargill purchases on Park Point,” Reinert stated in a video statement released in mid-March. “We now know that over 20 homes have been purchased… I think we’re all just wondering, you know, what is the plan?”
Previously, Cargill had said she was going to build houses for her relatives in the area, where she has a vacation home, along with plans to build a coffee shop and courts for pickleball, basketball, and street hockey.
However, she now asserts that those plans are out of the question due to the offense she took from her neighbors’ comments.
“The good plans that I have down there for beautifying, updating, and fixing up Park Point park or putting up that sports court, forget it,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “There’s another community out there with more welcoming people than that small-minded community.”
She has also vowed to keep her plans for the properties she purchased “even more private” in response to her neighbors asking for transparency about her intentions for bulldozed homes.
Danny O’Neil, a longtime resident of Park Point who sold his $370,000 home to Cargill for more than double its original value, has disclosed that she had plans to turn the home into a place for her grandson.
Despite her secrecy, Cargill claims she plans to remain doing business in the area.
