The New Manchester Activity Center(MAC)

[Silent_Bob]

City to sell old station, cells and all

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120719/NEWS06/707199891

MANCHESTER — For sale as is: 46,000 square feet in a prime downtown location, jail cells and firing range included.

The city will be putting its central police station on Chestnut Street on the market, after a Board of Mayor and Aldermen vote this week. The vote was 7-7, with Mayor Ted Gatsas breaking the tie.

The majority effectively rejected the recommendations of both the Committee on Land and Buildings and the Special Committee on the Future of the Existing Police Station. The station is being vacated by the Police Department, which is set to move to its new headquarters in the Valley Street municipal complex in December.

The consensus view of the committees was that the city should keep the station, most likely to house at least one other department. In the meantime, parts of the station could be used to meet the pressing storage needs of the City Clerk's Office and other departments.

The mayor, however, argued that keeping the facility wasn't worth the cost to maintain or renovate the structure, which could cost more than $6 million to convert into office space, according to one estimate in the special committee's report.

"I think it's important that we should get this off our books," he said ahead of the vote on Tuesday. "For the city to keep an empty building makes no sense. The private sector would get rid of it. We should not be in the real estate business. We don't do a good job of it."

Gatsas estimated that the building could net $1.2 million to $1.6 million on the market.

He added that a few weeks ago he had a "general conversation" with a business owner with 40 employees who expressed an interest in the building.

However, Ward 5 Alderman Ed Osborne said it was foolish for the city to part with a central municipal building in good condition.

"I can't comprehend what's going on here. We're not even trying to find someone to lease this space — nothing. It's just 'Let's get rid of it,'" Osborne said at Tuesday's meeting. "We're going to be sorry if we get rid of it when we have to relocate departments in the future."

Osborne and other supporters of keeping the station have said the facility could be used to house the Office of Youth Services and the Manchester Public Television Service, which currently pay rent for their Elm Street offices.

Joining Osborne in voting against putting the station on the market were Aldermen Joyce Craig, Ron Ludwig, Garth Corriveau, Dan O'Neil, Barbara Shaw and Pat Arnold.

Voting with the mayor were Aldermen Patrick Long, Jim Roy, Joe Kelly Levasseur, William Shea, Thomas Katsiantonis, Phil Greazzo and Russ Ouellette.

The police station, built in 1975, is about 46,000 square feet. However, a good portion of the space is taken up by the basement, firing range and cell block. The amount of usable space is estimated at 29,000 square feet.

The assessing reports commissioned by the special committee put the value of the building at $70,000 to $200,000 "as is" and up to $5.3 million with major renovations. The mid-range estimate was approximately $2 million.

The "For Sale" signs won't be going up just yet. Ward 12 Alderman Pat Arnold filed a motion for reconsideration after Tuesday's vote, in the hopes that he'll be able to convince at least one or more of his colleagues to switch positions and vote at their next meeting to keep the building.