Granville officials have shared a tentative vision for how they may handle the sale of the Village-owned fire station building on North Prospect Street.
In a virtual public forum held June 10, Village Manager Herb Koehler outlined a potential plan and timeline for disposing of the building.
Koehler said of the new station house being constructed at South Main Street , it is excepted the new site is expected to be ready by October for occupancy.
As a result, the Prospect Street building will likely become vacant in late October or early November.
As previously reported, the township is also selling two adjacent former homes under its ownership currently used as firefighter housing and department office space.
The township initially granted the Village right of first refusal on those properties, but that agreement has since lapsed and will not be renewed.
Koehler said the Village is still coordinating with the township and also noted that while the first-refusal pact was in place, no offers on those properties had been made for the Village to react to.
“The township chose not to renew that to advertise wider and get potential investors outside the state,” Koehler said.
As to its potential strategy for disposing of its own building, Koehler said the Village is eyeing “a 'request of proposal process' that will advertise the Village building alone and require interested parties to submit a proposal on what their intent is" for that property in terms of use.
Koehler said, “It is a very unique opportunity. Disposition of a building is not something the Village does often… We will walk through it…with full council involvement.”
The complicating use factor for all three properties, regardless of ownership, is Village parking codes and requirements that Koehler said council acknowledges will at some point require granting of a variance in order to make the properties commercially viable.
For example, if the present fire house building were to be converted to a retail use, based on square footage, it would require an estimated 40 parking spaces. Under present conditions, that target is 36 spaces shy of being met.
Koehler said that following an appraisal – since revisited amid current COVID economic conditions – the reserve price of the fire station property is $367,000, but amended, “That should be considered the floor.”
It’s expected, he said, that there will be some competitive bidding for the property.
In assessing any potential buyer or tenant, Koehler said officials have set out seven criteria against which prospective development uses will be weighed:
1. Compatibility (how the plan submitted meets compatibility with the surrounding street-scape)
2. Economic impact (the dollar-value of jobs created; for example, lawyer-level wages vs. restaurant wages)
3. Number of jobs created
4. Actual purchase price
5. Past performance of prospective owner/developer: (“A restaurant or business or service firm that has done stuff like this before and have a demonstrated successful past performance they can articulate to us,” as Koehler explained.)
6. Local ownership or proximity of owner to Granville
7. Sustainability (What need does project address that is needed in the Village?)
“We will also ask for a parking plan narrative,” Koehler said.
Demolition of the existing building is also an option, and one that raised the issue again of parking and perhaps using the parcel as a parking lot of some kind.
Koehler said some analysis of that concept has been done, but the net parking gain is not particularly significant and he wondered how anyone investing in the space as a parking lot would ever earn back their investment.
Some who shared their perspectives on the building and surrounding properties raised a refrain heard in earlier public meetings about the adjoining properties' simultaneous availability presenting a “once in a generation opportunity” for development.
Others said in light of the current COVID-19 environment that has seen public bodies including Granville Council holding only virtual meetings that complicate and potentially stunt public participation that more time should therefore be given to soliciting community input.
Others voiced their concerns that the property should not end up in a dining use given the recent permanent Granville restaurant closures caused by the pandemic and the economic challenges those still in operation are facing with limited dining capacity under social distancing requirements.
One resident suggested the Village hold off on any sale of the Prospect Street property for at least 18 to 24 months.
The current timeline outlined during the June 11 forum anticipates further discussion at this Wednesday night’s Village Council meeting – another tele-format meeting – scheduled at 7:30 p.m. June 17.
Koehler said that by early August, it’s hoped proposals will be in hand, then a completed assessment process regarding those proposals completed by mid-August with a possible decision by late-August, although he stressed these targets are only tentative: “Please don’t write these down in pen.”
Koehler also said, “I’d add while council has directed we pursue this process, it’s very possible we get a handful of prospects, none of which make sense… This is not an end-all be-all where we get a buyer out of this process.”
One concept raised toward the end of the forum that seemed to spark enough interest for potential further discussion was whether from a commercial use standpoint, it might make more sense for the Village to move its operations into the fire house on Prospect, and instead allow the current Village offices on Broadway be put to some other use.
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Granville shares possible plan for selling Prospect Street fire station - The Newark Advocate
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