Sale of City Hall falls through
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The sale of the Second Street property that serves as home to City Hall is not going through, following the buyers’ decision to cancel the deal.
In January, by a split vote of 4-3, councilors authorized City Manager Jim Bennett to sign a purchase and sale agreement with C&N Rentals, with the agreement being final in 90 days. Voting in favor of the sale were Council Chair Emily Smith and Councilors Pete Hallowell, Leigh Smith and Randy Smith. Opposing the sale were Council Vice Chair Mike Chasse and Councilors Dick Engels and Craig Green. The purchase price was $150,000.
As part of the agreement, the buyers were to seek approval from the Planning Board for a subdivision to use the property for apartments — a process the buyers chose not to pursue.
“We decided not to buy the building,” said Amy Collins, a partner in C&N Rentals with her brother, Gary Nelson.
Collins cited a number of reasons for not going through with the purchase.
“When the numbers came back to renovate the building, they were a lot higher than what we felt would make this project work. It just wasn’t feasible,” said Collins. “After city officials started talking that it would cost upwards of $400,000 to bring the building up to standards, we began to question if this was a worthwhile investment.”
“The time and money it would take to bring the property up to code — it wasn’t going to make it feasible for our plans,” she said.
Collins said with a number of other projects they’re working on, the timing just wasn’t right to take on something of this magnitude.
“We have other projects to focus on at this time that are more cost-effective,” said Collins.
City officials are now back to square one, with the proposed moving of City Hall to Parsons Street on hold until the fate of the Second Street property is determined. The move to Parsons was to be funded using the proceeds of the sale.
Bennett advised councilors at their goal-setting workshop at the Northeastland Hotel on Monday that the purchase and sale agreement had been withdrawn.
“I do know there are a couple other people interested in the property. At some point I’ll have you go into executive session on the people interested in buying the site,” said Bennett.
He said this has “set off a whole set of situations now,” leaving the future of City Hall a bit uncertain at the moment.
“We didn’t sign a lease agreement (for the Parsons Street property), so that’s up in the air,” said Bennett.
Bennett told councilors that since the sale didn’t go through, they’d be facing decisions regarding the building.
“Those will include whether to stay in the building — which will require some serious investment — or leave. If the decision is to leave, the Council will have to make a decision regarding the existing building and how to deal with it,” said Bennett.
Council’s next regular monthly meeting will be on Monday, April 6, at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The public is welcome and encouraged to participate.
For more information, call 760-2785.
