The buyers of the old St. Louis County Jail moved closer to a done deal Tuesday with the County Board unanimously approving the sale for $54,000 to Jail Holding LLC.

By: Candace Renalls, Duluth News Tribune

The buyers of the old St. Louis County Jail moved closer to a done deal Tuesday with the County Board unanimously approving the sale for $54,000 to Jail Holding LLC.

With some back-patting, little discussion and nary a challenge, St. Louis County commissioners moved the sale forward.

"The reason we didn't have a lot of debate is we were all trying to decide where do you go from here if we say no," Commissioner Dennis Fink said.

The county had been denied a city demolition permit last year because the jail, built in 1924 as part of the historic Civic Center complex, is protected as a local landmark. Renewed efforts to get a permit could be costly, as well as demolition costs reaching $300,000.

"Everybody looked at it as, 'what a terrible deal, let’s do it,' " Fink said.

With the negotiated deal costing the county $52,500 in utility hookups, repairs and closing costs, it’s not a moneymaker for the county.

Jail Holding, formed by Grant Carlson, a Minneapolis real estate broker, for the ownership of the jail, presented the first viable purchase bid, county officials say. Carlson and his father, Clint Carlson — a partner in the limited liability corporation and an owner of Quantum Development Inc. — have a track record of rehabbing old buildings.

Initial plans are to convert the jail to office space and a conference center and to keep a portion of the cells to preserve its history. But they want ideas from the city and community on what needs they could meet.

"There are many, many ideas," Clint Carlson said. "It's a fabulously designed and built building. When you look at the stately quality of the building, it creates possibilities."

Because a tunnel connects the jail to the courthouse, one idea is offices for attorneys.

While county studies have put adaptive reuse costs into the millions, Grant Carlson said they haven't pinpointed costs yet. Much depends on use and whether the internal cell structure needs to be removed, he said.

Preliminary plans are for file storage in the basement, office space on the first, second, third and fourth floors and in the jail annex building, and conference and event space on the fifth floor. A section of cells on the second and third floors would be maintained.

A timetable for redevelopment: utility hookup this spring; exterior work this fall; interior demolition next winter; first floor conversion to office space and historical components restored in summer 2011. No time frame is given for the remainder of the interior work.

The buyers could still back out before the April 16 closing date. But Grant Carlson said there’s little chance of that.

"It's an older building that needs a lot of work, but it has a lot to offer," he said.