County Expected to Get Help in Selling Property
Intelligencer Journal / Lancaster New Era
Feb 03, 2010
By P.J. REILLY, Staff Writer
Lancaster County commissioners are seeking professional help in selling county-owned property on West King Street.
At their weekly meeting this morning, the commissioners are expected to approve an agreement to have Economic Development Company of Lancaster County try to find a buyer/developer for the side-by-side parcels at 225 and 233 W. King St.
"Since (EDC is) in the business of trolling for businesses — either businesses come to them or they go looking for businesses within the state, out of the state — I think they might find the right entity that realizes, 'Hey these guys not only have a good location, but they also have the EDC financing packages to help us out,' " commissioners Chairman Scott Martin said.
Lancaster architect and development consultant Eugene Aleci, who owns property in the 200 block of West King Street, said redeveloping the county's property could be a key to revitalizing the whole neighborhood.
"This is a block that's been down and out for generations," said Aleci, who owns the vacant building at 217-219 W. King St. and the building at 213-215 W. King St. where the Expressly Local Foods grocery store opened last fall.
Turning unwanted properties into tax- and job-generating commercial ventures is exactly what EDC does, said David Nikoloff, president of the organization.
"We have a long history of doing this sort of project in Lancaster County," he said. "Hopefully, we will be successful here."
The county's property includes a now-vacant, 6,590-square-foot building built in 1963, which formerly housed District Judge Bruce Roth's court and various county offices.
With Roth's new court opening Monday in the county's administration building at 150 N. Queen St., all of the offices once housed in the West King Street building now have been relocated to North Queen Street.
Last year, the commissioners tried to sell the West King Street property through a bidding process, with the minimum price set at $460,000 — the lowest of two appraisals.
Not one bid was submitted.
The county paid $275,000 for the property in 1981, and it is assessed at $287,000.
County solicitor Don Lefever said the commissioners had the property reappraised last fall at $315,000.
"I think there's no question, given the economic conditions we're in, we were asking too much for it," Martin said.
Since EDC is in the business of promoting business development and expansion in Lancaster County, the commissioners want the company to take a crack at selling 225 and 233 W. King St.
"I think we're being effective in making sure that the taxpayers' interests are covered by making sure that we get fair value for the property, and if, through that process, we can partner with EDC … and invest in an area that I think we would all agree is underinvested, I think that would be a real win-win for everyone," Commissioner Craig Lehman said.
EDC is not a real estate agent, so the county would actually give the company an option to buy the property, which would make EDC its equitable owner.
As the equitable owner, Nikoloff said EDC officials would work with real estate agents, developers, city officials and others to try to find a buyer for the property.
"Anything and everything is on the table," he said. "The goal for the county would be to get a return on the taxpayers' investment in the property and to have it be a tax-paying entity.
"The city wants to see a tax-generating, job-generating business."
Aleci knows precisely what he'd like to see and what he wouldn't like to see at 225 and 233 W. King St.
"Not car parking, not offices that would be closed more or less to the street, but some retail or commercial activity along the street level," he said. "Above that level, there could be a lot of uses that range from office to residential."
Under the county's agreement with EDC, if the company finds a buyer, EDC would be paid 2.5 percent of the selling price as commission.
preilly@lnpnews.com
copyright 2010 Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era. Used with permission.
