City of Belleville to sell downtown office building that will become a fitness center
Belleville is one step closer to selling a downtown office building that formerly housed three city departments to a local businesswoman who plans to move in her fitness center.
At a City Council meeting Monday night, aldermen approved a development agreement with Andria Powell, owner of Belle City Fitness Collaboration on Mascoutah Avenue. A sales contract with more details will come later, along with a site plan.
The large public parking lot now part of the parcel will not be sold, but Powell’s customers could use it, Director of Economic Development Planning and Zoning Cliff Cross told aldermen.
“We want to keep that parking lot under the control of the city,” he said.
Under the agreement, Powell’s purchase price will be $80,413, which is $38,654 less than the city’s estimated appraisal of $119,067. The discount is equal to seven years of expected municipal property taxes on the improved building.
In exchange, Powell would complete renovations within two years, retain building ownership for five more years and, in case of default, pay the city the discounted amount.
Powell has submitted a development proposal listing $112,500 in desired improvements. She also owns Circa Boutique + Gifts on East Main.
“It’s a great building,” Powell said of the Lincoln Street building last month. “... It was just recently occupied. But it definitely needs some work (and) I would like to see it dressed up a bit.”
The one-story, 5,154-square-foot brick office building on Lincoln was constructed in 1956. The city bought the parcel, including the parking lot, for $235,000 in 2014, according to St. Clair County assessor’s records.
The building became home to three city departments: Health, Housing and Building; Economic Development, Planning and Zoning; and Engineering. Last spring, they moved to the city-owned Southwestern Illinois Justice and Workforce Development Campus on West Main.
The county now values the building and parking lot at $280,335, based on the 2014 purchase price and annual increases.
The city discussed hiring its own appraiser this year but decided to save the cost and time by coming up with an estimated appraisal for the building only, based on the county value for that portion of the parcel, according to Cross.
At Monday night’s meeting, Cross told aldermen that the City Council’s Economic Development and Annexation Committee felt it was wise to give Powell a discount on the purchase price.
“If you pay full price for that building, based on what it appraises for today, I do not know if anybody could put in the improvement value to get a development downtown in that area that would sustain that neighborhood, stabilize that neighborhood,” he said.
The agreement with Powell follows a new formula created by city staff in conjunction with the Economic Development and Annexation Committee.
Officials plan to begin using the formula whenever the city sells vacant, unneeded buildings to help spur and guide quality development for the benefit of neighborhoods.
Here’s how the agreement with Powell addresses what would happen in case of default:
“In the event that the buyer does not operate the approved concept for a period of 5 years, upon issuance of an occupancy permit, the buyer will be required to pay the City an additional $38,654.00 which represents the remainder of the estimated appraised value price of $119,067.00,” it states.
“Furthermore, if defaulted within years 1-5 upon the issuance of the occupancy permit, an additional penalty of $5,000.00 per prorated years of default will be assessed.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:33 AM.
