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Want to buy a building, real cheap?

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Vivian Moon View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vivian Moon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Want to buy a building, real cheap?
    Posted: May 16 2016 at 8:47am


1316 Val is one of the seven properties mentioned in the article.


Posted: 7:00 a.m. Monday, May 16, 2016

Middletown to consider offers for one of seven buildings it owns

By Mike Rutledge

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN 

Want to buy a building, real cheap?

Middletown will consider offers for one of seven buildings it owns in the city, and may even be willing to let one go for $1, if a business could put it to good use.

City Council Member Daniel Picard has pressed the city to market on its own the buildings in its possession, and in March said Middletown might sell some properties “for a buck,” after some citizens criticized the sale of a dilapidated building at 1316 Vail Ave. and two adjacent vacant properties for $1 to start-up micro-distillery Liberty Spirits LLC.

Liberty Spirits owner Mike Robinette plans to open a micro-distillery in late June in a nearby 4,000-square-foot building at 1357 Central Ave., and also plans a modest-sized tasting room and retail space there until he renovates the 4,000-square-foot building he bought from the city at 1316 Vail.

At that point, Robinette plans to keep operating out of 1357 Central while housing a larger tasting and retail space at the Vail property, which will be configured to face Central Avenue, with an outdoor entertainment area between it and Central.

As the public discussed the proposed Vale sale, Picard said Liberty Spirits wasn’t the only company that could buy city property cheap.

“Well, I tell you what, folks: Mr. (City Manager Doug) Adkins is putting together a list of all the properties that this city has. If you’ve got a deal, you want to do something, step forward,” Picard said. “Bring us your project. We’ll be glad to consider it. We’ll probably be willing to make you a deal where you get a building for a buck, too.”

Here’s the six-property list Adkins released, plus another building the city bought since then for $20,000:

* A building with retail spaces at 1200 First Ave., which are in the same block as the Butler Metro Housing Authority tower. Adkins said via email that the housing authority “has expressed interest in taking the building to demolish it and expand their parking.” He added: “We are talking to them but do not have any firm dates or terms of a transfer.”

Middletown took title to the property without spending money in 2010 after it was forfeited to the state, according to Adkins.

* The former Studio Theater at 1345 Central Ave., whose title Adkins said Middletown took in September, 2009, by donation without spending city funds. Like the Vail Avenue property sold this year to Liberty Spirits, the city once planned to demolish it. Once called the Strand Theater, which opened as a 1,800-seat showplace in October, 1929, and later known as the Studio, which closed in 1984, it was designated for demolition by the city in 2009, but the city lacked money for the razing.

“The Studio Theater and old Montgomery Wards are in such poor condition they should be demolished when funds are available,” Adkins said via email.

* The former Montgomery Ward building at 24 N. Main St., for which Middletown took title in July, 2012, after it was forfeited to the state for back taxes. No city funds were spent, Adkins reported. The city has been discussing demolishing it since at least early 2013.

*403 Curtis St., which Adkins described as “low-income senior housing – No immediate records available as to how we got title to the property. Don’t know how long we have had this.” A city document describes it as a group home. Here’s how the MidPointe library system describes the structure: “Located at 403 Curtis Street, this house was built by Lorenzo Dow Doty, grandson of Middletown’s first settler, Daniel Doty. In 1958, the building was renovated and became known as “the miracle on Curtis Street.” It then became known as Doty House, a special school and home for handicapped children. When Doty House moved to its new home on Timber Trail, Doty House became Unity House, a drug treatment center.”

The Butler County Auditor’s website also offers no information about sales.

*19 S. Clinton St. a commercial building. Middletown took title in September, 2010, after it was forfeited to the state for back taxes. No city funds were spent, according to Adkins.

*930 Ninth Ave., a social services building that Adkins reports was “part of a land swap that traded this property for the old Amanda school site, which became the site for the new clinic.”

*The former Middletown Area Senior Citizens Center building at the southwest corner of Columbia Avenue and Verity Parkway. Middletown bought this building for $20,000 that the city had donated four years ago to Higher Education Partners, for use by Cincinnati State Technical & Community College, which does not have a use for it. City officials say they may be willing sell it, renovate it for city use or demolish it to create green space.

Before City Council voted 5-0 for the purchase, Adkins told members the $20,000 represented costs HEP “incurred to date in purchasing and carrying costs associated with the building, in lieu of putting it back out for sale.”

When questioned by the Journal-News about the lack of a purchase price, Adkins responded by email that, “We donated the building but there were still legal costs, etc., associated with the transfer,” and said he hadn’t asked HEP about the carrying costs paid.

 

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Vivian Moon View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vivian Moon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2016 at 9:35am
Hmm...once again I'm confused by this latest article about the buildings in the downtown core.
We were told not long ago that DMI and MMF were in charge and working on a master plan for the revitalation of the entire downtown core. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote What A City Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2016 at 11:47am
Well. let's see. Didn't the city accommodate Robinette with the Rose Furniture Building on finances? Wasn't Robinette involved in some apartment remodeling downtown somewhere? And what is the status of these two enterprises with the city and Robinette to date? Any progress on these two projects by Robinette.

If there is stagnation on either, why would the city offer him yet another chance to do something with another downtown property if he hasn't shown any means to finance his other projects? Will this "Liberty Spirits" idea go the same route as the Rose Building has and sit idle long past any realistic timing toward completion? Is the city turning over downtown property to a so-called developer that hasn't produced anything from start to finish to date?

And wasn't Robinette involved in the early-on bidding of the Manchester at one time? Was there a problem with financing on his part then too?

I know Robinette is in the "friends of the city" club but when is it time for the city to just say no to any more involvement with him on business development?

In addition, the idea of owning the property and then giving away the old seniors center to HEP and then paying 20 grand of taxpayer money to retrieve it, knowing there isn't any interest in buying it really borders on ill-conceived thinking. Would any of you real estate investors do this in running your business?
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spiderjohn View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote spiderjohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2016 at 6:01pm
Why would anyone quote Mr.Picard?
Does anyone take him seriously?
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middielover View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote middielover Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2016 at 8:04pm
Gilleland and her lifelong buddy Kohler took ownership of all these crap buildings leaving Adkins to cleanup their mess.

At least he (Adkins) is moving ahead with unloading them on some unsuspecting sucker.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote What A City Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2016 at 6:00am
middielover: "At least he (Adkins) is moving ahead with unloading them on some unsuspecting sucker"

Is deception a trait we want in a city manager, the council and all city leaders?
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middletownscouter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote middletownscouter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2016 at 9:10am
People who are paying a DOLLAR for a building know full well what kind of mess they're getting into.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote spiderjohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2016 at 9:44am
Actually it is the taxpayer and citizen who has no connection to the former downtown area that is being played as the sucker, because they are the people funding this concept and have done so for close to two decades. Cincy st properties(at least something to show for the cge building), 5th/3rd, rose, properties purchased by and recently gifted to victory llc(exactly who are they?), Masonic, and many more(u fill in the blanks).

People take these properties knowing that city admin will pretty much do and pay anything more to hope that something sticks. All while the rest of the city continues to be ignored.

Granted--the former downtown area is beginning to show potential and should have a positive summer. Doesn't change much outside of that area though, and the rest of town is paying the price(particularly in property values--why pay for anything here when the city will eventually gift it to you + seed $$?).

Hopefully the current MCSD master plan meetings will lead to a new direction for local public education. The teachers and staff are still trying to convince everyone that they are doing a good job and the test scores/discipline issues don't matter. But the public knows better. Discipline and fundamentals consistently driven Through K-primary, and it would be a given by middle schools and up instead of a troubling new concept.

Jmo
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Middletown News Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2016 at 1:13pm

Middletown to consider offers for one of seven buildings it owns
MAY 17, 2016 LEAVE A COMMENT
The Journal News has been working overtime to find something to report on, so as is sometimes the case, they are way ahead of the actual story on city owned buildings.

The City has to make an evaluation when the private market abandons a property.  Look at the old Library on First Avenue.  Look at the old Montgomery Wards building on Main Street.  Look at the old Lincoln School on Central. When the private real estate market abandons a property and no one will even pay one dollar to purchase it at the Forfeited Land Sale held by the state each year, what, as a city, should we do?

In the case of the Lincoln School, we had to board it up to keep people out of it and someone still set fire to the vacant structure.  We spend thousands of dollars mowing the property each year.  It is once again forfeiting to the State of Ohio for unpaid taxes. The State of Ohio holds title but does not maintain the building or any forfeited property in their name.

I can quit spending money mowing and boarding the building and then the entire neighborhood will look terrible when you drive by and we’ll have an abandoned, unmowed eyesore along our newly paved Central Avenue.

The City is the last in line when the private real estate market fails. In the case of the school, we can continue to leave title with the State of Ohio and continue to mow and board and maintain the property indefinitely.   We will not get our mowing and boarding money returned to the taxpayers because if it is sold out of forfeited land status, all liens are removed from the property upon transfer of title.  No return of your tax dollars.

I can demolish the school at the cost of several hundred thousand dollars of your local tax dollars.  Because title is with the State of Ohio, that lien would also be removed when sold out of forfeiture.  No return of your tax dollars.

I can take title and either try to market it with other incentives or demolish it and use incentives to redevelop the land.  No return of your tax dollars.

There was a comment on MiddletownUSA asking “Would any of you real estate investors do [these types of things] in running your business?”   I would sincerely hope the answer is “of course not.”  We are not real estate investors.  We are what is left when no real estate investors want the property but something has to be done anyway.

There is no right answer.  I can make good arguments for letting it go to woods and not spending mowing funds, for continuing status quo, for demolition while in the State’s title and for taking title and trying to redevelop the property.  Different intelligent people would probably see this in different ways and there are pros and cons to each approach.

At the end of the day, the property is going to cost local taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars or more no matter which choice the city makes.  The question becomes which “stupid” decision is the city going to make?   The answer is that because there is no one left to hold accountable for the property, the city is going to look stupid no matter what choice they make.

Now let’s look at the seven properties in the Journal article.  What Councilman Picard asked us to do was to assemble the list, see which were marketable, and then develop a submission package including a business plan and bidsheet on each building that staff could evaluate and then send on to City Council for consideration.  We are working on that package now.  At some point in the nearer future, we will put the properties that could be redeveloped up on our web page with the package available to download and complete.

The Montgomery Wards building on Main and the Studio Theater have been condemned.  The Montgomery Wards building no longer has a roof and is a brick shell.  The front part of the Studio is solid but in terrible condition.  The theater portion should be demolished and is unsafe. 1200 First Avenue has been abandoned for years and is in terrible shape.  We took title with the intention to demolish the property and return it to green space.

403 Curtis is in use and will likely not be for sale.  The building on 9th Avenue has active leases and staff has not yet evaluated the leases, space, and condition of the building for sale.

The building on Clinton is in poor condition but the City would accept offers on it.  The former Senior Center is not yet titled to the City so we are not able to show the building or do much with the property until title transfers to the City.  If you have interest in redevelopment of the old Senior Center, let us know and we can contact you later as we take control of the building.

I’ll blog about this again as we get organized and have real information to share with the public.

Have a great week!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2016 at 2:50pm
Adkins:

"There was a comment on MiddletownUSA asking “Would any of you real estate investors do [these types of things] in running your business?”    I would sincerely hope the answer is “of course not.” We are not real estate investors"

WHAT???? "WE ARE NOT REAL ESTATE INVESTORS".....Seriously?

You most certainly are real estate investors. You bought the entire Thatcher Estate properties. You owned the Manchester because you were asking $350,000 for it at one time and ended up, as you do most of your real estate properties, by giving it away for a buck. You just re-purchased the old Seniors Center for 20 grand after giving it away to HEP for free......after buying it in the Cincy State campus building purchases along with the old CG&E building. Didn't the city purchase the old Ben Ligon service station on Main St to demolish it "to create more parking for the Cincy State campus" that never has come to fruition. More pie in the sky crap from your crew Adkins. How about the arts place you tried to get rid of and ended up giving it to Sue Wittman for free? How about the deal with Robinette and the Rose Furniture fiasco? City-taxpayer money involved (and wasted) in that too, right? What about the old Journal building? Wasn't that owned at one time by the city and sold to some developer who made pie-in-the-sky plans that never developed either. What about all the loans you have given for startup business ventures like the Liberty Restaurant that never developed into any long term success? Didn't the city own the old JC Penney store at one time? How about the Studio Theatre. The city tried to sell that at one time, right?

Yes indeed, Mr. Adkins, the city has been involved in real estate deals for many years now. Why would you make a statement like that that can't possibly be defended?


I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2016 at 3:06pm
To address the issue of the state taking title of private sector abandoned properties and leaving the cost of grass mowing and boarding up for the cities to absorb, why hasn't a city like Middletown gotten together with all the surrounding cities (assuming they have the same issues) and filed a class-action lawsuit against the state for the cost to maintain these abandoned properties or demolition costs as an alternative? Why haven't the cities fought back legally to be reimbursed by the state if it is too overbearing on a city's budget?

Is it that hard to track down the owners of these buildings and make them take care of their properties? How does the city (or state) lose track of property ownership that easily? Isn't it on file at the auditor's office? How often are these properties reviewed for ownership?
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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