Washington County has decided not to purchase the Crossroads parking lot in downtown Washington.
Washington County’s deal to purchase the Crossroads Parking Garage in downtown Washington appears to have fallen through.
County Commissioner Nick Sherman said Friday that the county plans to use some federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds toward the purchase, as the plan must be in place by Dec. 31. , reiterated that it faces tight deadlines. .
“The commission had a gentlemen’s agreement with the mayor, so I thought it was OK,” Sherman said. “Our attorney drafted a formal letter of intent to purchase. We were ready to put it on the table, but the mayor came in and said, ‘We want another million dollars.’ I did. It’s not that we didn’t want to do it, but this is ARPA money and we had to decide how to spend it by the end of the year. You must specify it and conclude the contract. We told them that was our timeline. Frankly, the mayor has been in a daze for four months, but they’ve been taken out the window. ”
The garage is owned and operated by the Washington Parking Authority, but under the tax increment financing plan used to build the garage in 2007, the funds from the sale would have been distributed among the city, Washington School District, and county. .
In July, the City Council approved the sale of the garage to the county. But in August, a $4 million offer from the county was rejected by the parking authority.
Sherman said the county couldn’t go above that price because the property was appraised by a real estate company at $4 million.
“You’re not allowed to pay more than the appraised value,” Sherman said.
The county has expressed interest in the garage for parking for its employees, who currently park in the Courthouse Square garage, which is targeted for demolition to make way for a new public safety facility.
Mayor Jojo Burgess said the city was recently notified that the county was no longer interested in purchasing the garage.
“If you want to buy it, you’re welcome, but we need a real deal,” Burgess said. “They can’t come and basically take it away from us for free.”
Burgess said earlier this year that the $4 million price would drop to $2.7 million after debt repayments. The city, which owns 50% of the garage, and the school district, which owns 43%, will receive the lion’s share of the revenue. The rest is owned by the county.
The Parking Authority voted in September to have Integra Realty Resources of Pittsburgh conduct an independent evaluation of the garage at a cost of $5,001, with the cost to be split 50-50 by the city, the Washington School District and the Parking Authority. Become.
Parking Authority Executive Director Joe Thomas said the agency did not move forward with an appraisal after being informed the county was no longer interested in the garage.
He said, “We have arranged with an appraiser to have the property appraised, but at this point we see no reason to spend money on an appraisal, so we are not proceeding with obtaining an appraisal.” “If the situation changes, we will reconsider (the assessment),” he said.
At that September Parking Authority meeting, board chairman Rick Mancini said $4 million was not an acceptable price.
The garage opened in May 2007 and cost an estimated $14.1 million to build. Since then, the garage has continued to lose money.
“It’s disappointing,” Sherman said. “That’s a garage that loses money every year for the school and the city. Being a good neighbor and a good business partner, we took it out of their hands and absorbed a building that was losing money every year. They would be able to put that money into the capital budget and make the appropriate fixes that the school and city need.
“It is truly disappointing to the residents of the City of Washington and the Washington School District that we were unable to reach an agreement.”