Downtown Granite City building cost taxpayers $74,000: later sold to former councilwoman for $100

The city paid $74,000 in 2009 for a downtown building and sold it six years later for $100 to a former city councilwoman.

But city leaders say the deal is likely to be a good one because the buyer and only bidder — Brenda Whitaker — has what Mayor Ed Hagnauer called a “green thumb” when it comes to developing businesses.

“Everything she seems to touch benefits the city,” he said.

The transaction in October, which has yet to be formally recorded in Madison County property records, involves a house at 1930 Cleveland Avenue, a stylish but slightly rundown home that formerly housed an architect’s office that was built during the “arts and crafts” movement in the United States in the early 1900s.

At that time, simple-but-elegant designs and construction involving brick, stone and wood were favored. The so-called “Gabriel House” named after the architect is located behind the Granite City Cinemas. The city turned part of the property into a parking lot, but the house remained.

Hagnauer has previous experience with bargain buys in the city he now oversees. In 2000, when he was the Granite City fire chief, Hagnauer and several business partners bought for $1 a warehouse from the city at 1733-45 State St., valued at $50,000. Hagnauer defended the sale by the city as a way to get the property back on the tax rolls. It is used to store boats and vehicles and is taxed.

As for the Cleveland Avenue building, Whitaker said, “I got it fair and square, and hopefully, we can turn it around and bring another successful business to downtown.” Whitaker, who lost her seat on the council in 2015, was among those who voted to pay $74,000 for the site.

The property won’t be on the tax rolls for at least a year after it is reassessed.

“It will take a lot to bring it up to code. In order for that to happen, certain people have to take risks,” said Whitaker, referring to entrepreneurs like herself. She said she plans to open a small restaurant or meeting place where food and drinks are served, or maybe a combination gift shop or bookstore.

Whitaker, who has operated the Garden Gate Tea Room in the 800 block of Niedringhaus Avenue for 16 years, also operates the non-profit Alfresco Art Center and theater and is the general manager of Lascelles Granite City, another restaurant on Niedringhaus. Lascelles is owned by prominent Madison County attorney Lance Callis and is housed in a former bank building.

Whitaker originally bid $1,000 for the property. During the Oct. 6 council meeting, Alderman Dan McDowell made a motion, passed unanimously, to cut the purchase price to $100.

“It saved her $900 to put into the building,” McDowell said. “If you look at Brenda’s track record, you’ll see that she puts her money where her mouth is.”

Hagnauer said the property fell into disrepair, despite efforts to keep out homeless people who frequent some parts of Granite City’s downtown.

“We bolted the door but we could never keep the homeless out,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get rid of that property for years.”

Hagnauer said the council agreed to pay $74,000 for the property back in 2009 because the owner wanted to sell the whole parcel and not just the relatively small section the city needed for a parking lot for the cinemas.

Police Chief Rich Miller said, “We had to run the homeless out of there before she bought it and since. ... God bless anybody who wants to take the time and effort and energy it takes to rehab that building and get a business going in there.”

A Granite City Police Department report from March 18, more than four months after Whitaker acquired the building, showed that break-ins were continuing to occur.

Sgt. Chris Blair wrote that he discovered a door and door frame “in deteriorated condition” and evidence that homeless men had been inside.

A police informant, according to the report, said that four men had gotten inside and sat on leather chairs near a fireplace where they initially intended to start a fire with pages from some old books. The informant said the men, who did not start a blaze, were waiting for a nearby soup kitchen to open.

This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Downtown Granite City building cost taxpayers $74,000: later sold to former councilwoman for $100."