St. Louis County gets serious offer on old jail building |
| Minneapolis-based Blue Limit LLC made an offer on the old St. Louis County Jail through real estate agent Remax1. It would be the first serious offer for the jail since it was condemned for prisoners in 1996. By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune St. Louis County has had a dog of a property on the market for the past eight months — actually the past 14 years — but a Twin Cities company might change that. Tony Mancuso, the county’s property manager, said the county is preparing a counteroffer to Minneapolis-based Blue Limit LLC, which made an offer on the jail through real estate agent Remax1. It would be the first serious offer for the jail since it was condemned for prisoners in 1996. Blue Limit inquired on the building in mid-December, then toured the jail at the end of that month and submitted an offer on Jan. 15. Neither side is revealing the bid, but Mancuso confirmed that it meets the “90 percent of appraised value” limit set by state statute. The building is appraised at $60,000. But Mancuso said there still are major obstacles. Blue Limit has asked the county to freeze taxes on the building for 20 years, which the county can’t legally do, and to make presale repairs to the roof, utilities and facade, which the county probably won’t do. “We’d be looking at about $750,000 for the roof and the basic work needed... and I don’t think the County Board will go that far,” Mancuso said. “But we’ll submit a counteroffer this week and go from there. I think we’ll find out by next week how serious they really are.” Mancuso said Blue Limit did not say it might use the jail for but that the company does have some track record in restoring old buildings in Minneapolis and Fargo. Those projects were much smaller, Mancuso said. Gran Carlson, owner of Blue Limit, could not be immediately reached Thursday for comment. County officials last spring approved a demolition budget and asked the city for permission to tear the old jail down. But both the Duluth Historic Preservation Commission and City Council said no, claiming the county hadn’t made a good faith effort to sell the building, which is part of the historic district that also includes city hall, the federal building and the county courthouse. Last summer the county tried to sell the building on its own, with no serious offers. A real estate broker was called in last fall. The county is insisting not just on a cash offer but also proof that the buyers have the financial wherewithal to rehabilitate the building and not simply the let old jail continue to fester. The five-story, 32,496-square-foot building sits on a half-acre of land and was offered by the county last summer to anyone who could afford to rehabilitate it into a legitimate use. Several parties looked at the building, but no acceptable bids were received. One consultant said the rehabilitation costs, estimated at about $6.5 million, would far surpass the cost of a new building with the same space. The county then listed the jail with a real estate agent, and the building has been on the ReMax1 listings since September at $60,000. County officials have said taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to keep paying for upkeep of a building that no one wants bad enough to buy. “We’ll keep trying to market the building as long as we can. But we’re also going to pursue permission to [demolish] the building if we don’t get a serious offer,’’ Mancuso said. “At some point you have to say it’s time to move on.” The 1924 building is at West Second Street and Mesaba Avenue. Over the years the county has seen interest from more than 60 parties, Mancuso has said, but received no legitimate offers.” |