Council to mull bid on city-owned property
Published 5:38 pm Saturday, August 10, 2013
Washington’s City Council will consider an $800,000 offer to buy the former Hamilton Beach/Proctor Silex building on Springs Road.
The offer comes from idX Corp., which purchased Impressions Market Group’s operation housed at the city-owned property at 234 Springs Road. The city owns three tracts there, but idX only wants to buy one of the three tracts.
The city sought bids on that tract, but only idX submitted a bid, along with a $40,000 deposit.
According to a memorandum from Matt Rauschenbach, the city’s chief financial officer and assistant city manager, idX is considering investing $2 million in tooling and equipment upgrades at the existing facility and adding 150 jobs during a three-year period.
As part of its plans, idX is applying for $3,020,000 in grants for the expansion and jobs creation, according to the memorandum.
Recently, the building and land were appraised at $3.65 million. An appraisal conducted for idX put the value of the property at $2.7 million. The idX inspector estimated the building needs about $2.1 million in basic repairs. That inspector determined roof replacement would be needed within a few years, along with removing asbestos and mold from offices, according to the memorandum.
The difference between proposed sales price and the $3.65 million appraisal could be used as the $300,000 the city would be required to allocate under terms of the grant, if it is awarded, Rauschenbach noted.
According to the memorandum, idX is weighing expanding the existing facility in Washington or a facility in Virginia or one in Indiana.
In other business, the council will consider amending the city’s budget by $66,000 to help fund the Washington Harbor District Alliance’s operations.
The $66,000 was in the city manager’s recommended budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, which began July 1, but that allocation was inadvertently omitted from the budget when it was approved by the council earlier this year.
The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building, 102 E. Second St. To view the council’s agenda for a specific meeting, visit the city’s website at www.washingtonnc.gov, click “Government” then “City Council” heading, then click “Meeting Agendas” on the menu to the right. Then click on the date for the appropriate agenda.