|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Danville Town Council is set to consider the sale of a town-owned property located at 115-125 Hartz Ave. during a study session Tuesday morning.
The property in question is down the street from San Ramon Valley High School and about 0.34 acres in total. It houses a commercial building that’s approximately 6,030 square feet and is divided into four separate tenant spaces.
Currently, the spaces are occupied by Lotus Thai, Pizza Guys and the U.S. Marine recruiting office — while the fourth space is vacant.
The site was first acquired by the former Danville Community Development Agency (CDA) in March 2011 for $2.6 million, a necessary purchase in order to allow for the construction of the North Hartz Avenue Beautification Project, according to town officials.
Three months later, however, all redevelopment agencies (like the CDA) across the state were dissolved, leaving successor agencies in their wake to wind down projects in the works and liquidate RDA assets and re-distribute proceeds to all taxing entities.
This included the Hartz Avenue parcel. In March 2016, the town of Danville bought the property from the successor agency for a little over $2.9 million, after receiving approval by the town’s oversight board and the state department of finance.
Three purposes for the acquisition were listed in the staff report approving the purchase, according to the most recent report prepared by Town Manager Joe Calabrigo:
* “Allow the town to continue to hold the property while exploring options for potential aggregation with adjoining parcels
* Allow the town to complete its downtown parking analysis, complete construction of the Rose Street parking facility and review any potential changes in zoning or permitted uses for the north end of the downtown (a subject which was deferred during the adoption of the 2030 General Plan)
* Allow the town to spend some of the rental income from the property to improve the appearance of the building in the short term.”
Real estate firm Carpenter Robbins — the town’s agent in the property’s acquisition — has offered two approaches for disposing the property: 1) a conventional sales transaction, involving selling the property to the highest bidder, or 2) structuring a requests for proposals (RFP) process, in which prospective buyers can “propose purchase of the property contingent upon being able to redevelop the site under a prescribed set of conditions.”
The latter approach, Calabrigo writes, could lead to a wider array of proposals and financial offers to consider.
At the meeting, Calabrigo recommends that council members direct staff as to how to best dispose of the property.
The council meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the town offices at 510 La Gonda Way.
In other business
* The council will consider identifying a primary and an alternate director to represent Danville on the MCE Clean Energy board.
MCE Clean Energy is a community choice energy provider, that the town of Danville voted to join this past June. According to town officials, joining the program allows for greater local control, more consumer choices, reduced electricity costs and more reliance on renewable energy options.
* Mayor Renee Morgan and Councilman Robert Storer will present the semiannual chamber of commerce liaison report, and Storer will present the semiannual arts commission liaison report.
* During a closed session directly after the study session, council members will conduct a performance evaluation for city attorney Robert Ewing.
What will be the disposition of the current tenants if it is sold for redevelopment by new retail wanting the entire space?
A nice 4 story affordable housing apartment building would fit nicely on that parcel.