Superintendent Withdraws Land Sale Recommendation After Board Questions Process and Broker Fees

BRADENTON – The approval of a contract for the sale of school board-owned Checkers-Owen’s Annex Property, at 505 1st Street and 115 Manatee Ave was withdrawn after the board objected to hefty brokerage fees and opted to adopt a standard procedure when handling surplus realty.

”Typically, there would be a process to obtain three appraisals and then list with a broker,“ said Julie Aranibar. ”I understand that there is an offer on the table but on the other half, I have concerns.“

An offer of $2. 2 million was recently received from Gold Glove Ventures, LLC, which was reviewed by staff and deemed acceptable. However, the district would only net $1.8 million after paying $400,000 in broker commission fees. The combined assessed value is equal to $762,965. Superintendent McGonegal had initially included these possible profits in his 2011 budget resolution. Without the additional funding, the school board millage rate will go up slightly.

”I think all of this flies in the face of the process we agreed upon in the workshop where we discussed this,“ said board member Karen Carpenter. ”We have a duty to the taxpayers to get the best professional advice we can get before disposing of property without enough information of what it’s worth.“

In July 2010, the school board approved to surplus their Checkers-Owen’s Annex property, which was deemed unnecessary for educational or ancillary purposes.  The property was subsequently advertised for sale. The Checkers-Owen’s Annex property consists of two parcels; one vacant and one with office buildings consisting of approximately 7,500 square feet.

Upon approval of this contract, the buyer would have an initial due diligence period of 60 days and may cancel the contract for any reason. If the contract survived, the buyer would have had an additional 120 days to diligently pursue final approvals and permitting from the applicable government agencies.

”A $5,000 retainer to hold the property for 60 days is way too low – period,“ said board member Harry Kinnan. ”$50,000 would be more reasonable. Why the 60-day period for purchase in the first place?“

Should the buyer complete all due diligence, obtain final approvals and close on the property, then the school board would have granted the buyer a 60-day lease, at no cost, to the school district in order to allow staff and equipment to be relocated.

”We haven’t done our due diligence in my opinion,“ said Kinnan. ”Last we heard, the property was going to be used for a Walgreens – now it’s a restaurant. We have to know what this will be used for.“