DOBSON — After spending millions on school improvements, county officials are looking to get a little bit back as they put a piece of city property up for sale just off Main Street.
It has been about a year and a half since Mount Airy City Schools started moving its central office equipment and personnel out of a building at 130 Rawley Avenue and into a newly renovated facility at 351 Riverside Drive, a process that took a few weeks.
This location has been referenced at many meetings as the former Pike Electric site. Others will remember it as a long-time Crossroads Mental Health facility. Crossroads leased the building from the county government for 13 years. It was being subleased to New River Behavioral Health, Easter Seals and Barium Springs Home for Children at the end of that 13 years.
After the county bought the property, estimates came in at a February 2017 meeting for $1.8 million to gut the building and remake the inside.
The 22,500-square-foot building includes a 21’x61’ meeting room and warehouse space. It also has some classroom space that can be available for other county needs. It reportedly came in a little under budget.
At a previous meeting of the Surry County Board of Commissioners, officials learned that the Rawley Avenue lot is actually two separate parcels for the building and then the small parking lot behind it. Over the winter the board requested that the staff get an appraisal performed to see what the value is of the building, its contents and the parking lot.
County Manager Chris Knopf said this week that on March 18 Don Mitchell, the facilities director who has now retired, emailed out the results of the appraisal, but the commissioners hadn’t had a chance to discuss it in a meeting yet.
“I for one am satisfied with a very thorough appraisal, very thorough,” said Chairman Larry Johnson. “I guess we also paid a very thorough price, also, to have it appraised. But it’s good information to have.”
While looking over individual item values, Johnson asked what the grand total was for the properties, and was it decided as they suspected that the value would be better if the two parcels remained together.
County Attorney Ed Woltz said the total market value would be close to $250,000 for everything.
“Well personally,” said Johnson, “as a representative of Mount Airy District, I feel that is very appropriate for that area, the location, and the age of it — 1953, I believe.”
Commissioner Van Tucker agreed, saying that the appraisal looked well done so the board should pay attention to it and use that market value.
When it comes to selling the property, Johnson said he had mixed emotions on the topic.
“If we take care of it ourselves, we have an interim facilities manager right now who possibly, very well could be overwhelmed with this, showing it,” he said, referring to Jessica Montgomery, who is the public works director overseeing such operations as the landfill and has taken on extra duties with Mitchell’s retirement.
“It might be in our best interest — I’m just asking a question — it could be in our best interest to let a real estate agent handle this.”
“I’m not opposed to, if we fail, turning it over to a Realtor,” said Tucker. But the agency would charge a fee of 6%, so on top of the appraisal fee, that would eat into how much the county taxpayers would actually get out of the sale.
The county could put up For Sale signs and see what happens before making that move, Tucker suggested.
Woltz said he would be happy to show the building to any interested buyers as it lies just across the street from his law office.
The board members agreed to try selling the property themselves before taking any further action.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com