Linn County may buy this mostly empty medical office building across Seventh Avenue from Albany General Hospital.
The Linn County Board of Commissioners’ quest for more space for county offices continues.
On Tuesday the county announced the possible purchase of an 11,000-square-foot office building across Seventh Avenue from Albany General Hospital.
I got the word in a press release reporting action the board had taken at its weekly meeting Tuesday morning.
The report, from county communications officer Alex Paul, said the board “approved beginning a 90-day due diligence process for the possible purchase” of the building.
I stopped at the address, 1040-1050 Seventh Ave. S.W., on a bike ride Tuesday afternoon to snap the photo above. The door was locked.
The property is owned by a limited liability company, “7th Street Medical Properties LLC,” whose registered agent is Albany attorney Cordell Post.
The county offered $2.5 million for the property, board Chairman Roger Nyquist told me.
At one time the building housed a dialysis clinic. Since the dialysis operation moved to the North Albany Shopping Center several years ago, the building has looked empty.
The county’s plans for the property are not firm. But if the purchase goes through, there’s talk of moving the health department there from the courthouse annex. Then the offices of planning and building and the surveyor would be moved to the annex.
This would free more space in the courthouse for the district attorney’s office. “They are severely overcrowded,” Paul said of the DA’s office.
In December 2023, Linn County completed its $6.25 million purchase of the Wheelhouse office building on the Willamette River, intending to move various offices there when existing leases expire.
In November 2023, the county board approved a 10-year lease of office space in the former Mark Thomas Motors dealership at Fifth Avenue and Ellsworth Street. The space is being remodeled for use by the county veterans office.
The county government started looking for office space in Albany after its orginal plan to expand the courthouse fell through.
The courthouse expansion would have cost $30-40 million, and in comparison, buying and leasing existing space is the less expensive way to go. (hh)
Thanks for the updates!
Linn County seems to be snapping up a few buildings.
In a side note I noticed the old Mark & Pack grocery store on Queen appears to be having some activity remodeling. Do you know what is moving in?
The last update I saw from you in January and no new news… thank you Hasso!
Mini storage
It would be great if Elm St. Pharmacy could buy a strip of that east-facing parking lot to ease the 24/7 traffic snarl at the corner of Elm and 7th. Folks waiting to turn into drive-through seem to think that 7th is now a turning lane as they idle away their time. With so many pedestrians, too, it is a perfect storm.