This vacant site, at 519 Ninth Ave. S.E., is one of three city-owned lots involved in the proposed sale of properties at Ninth and Jackson Street.
Wanting more money, the Albany City Council Wednesday turned down a company’s offer to buy three vacant city-owned lots so the business could expand.
The council had invited bids for the three lots on Southeast Jackson Street and Ninth Avenue. Van Vleet Meat and Food Service, 810 Jackson St. S.E., put in a bid to buy all three for $125,000.
The council voted down a motion to accept the bid, the highest of four. Instead, it voted to “negotiate” to sell the lots to Van Vleet for $145,000, which an appraiser had told the city the lots were worth.
Council members evidently forgot that the value of property is not determined by an appraisal but by what someone is willing to pay for it.
The lots are at 817 Jackson St. and 503 and 519 Ninth Avenue.
The Helping Hands homeless shelter, also on Ninth, offered to buy just one of the lots, 519 Ninth, for $25,000. It wants to expand the shelter’s services.
Josh Mitchell bid $90,000 for all three lots to develop them for small storage or unspecified industrial use. And Laurel Van Winkle, who wants to start a program to reduce the number of feral cats in Albany, wanted to buy the corner lot, 503 Ninth, for one dollar.
The two lots across from the Van Vleet property are separated by a house at 821 Jackson. As I understood the discussion, Van Vleet offered to trade 519 Ninth to Helping Hands for that house, which it would then pay to demolish.
This would give Van Vleet three adjoining lots where the company could build parking spaces, which would allow it to expand its operation on its side of the street, adding two to five jobs.
The deal, if realized, would give Helping Hands adjoining lots on Ninth.
Mayor Alex Johnson II urged the council to accept the Van Vleet bid, but the motion failed 2-4. Considering the jobs and tax revenue over many years the company offer promised, the mayor couldn’t believe the council would quibble over $20,000, the difference between the top bid and the appraisal.
The discussion went on and on, and to reach your own judgment of council members’ views, you should watch the meeting on YouTube.
The deliberations had been scheduled to be in an executive session closed to the public. But the city staff decided an executive session was not needed.
Whether the sale will eventually take place, well, that is up in the air. (hh)
The city lots are outlined in red. Blue properties are owned by Helping Hands.
ok….. so this did not work out for 70 small apartments. im looking forward to a update on the 70 small apartments. my guess? it was all a big fat lie to begin with. just like i suspected. bold face lie to obtain the property. 100% typical of liberals. all talk, no walk. if helping the homeless was the goal, there would have been a plan b for 70 small apartments. i think its more than safe to say, we were suppose to forget about helping the homeless in albany with the 70 small apartments. we can all see that now. i simply have no trust or faith at all in chance or helping hands. the biggest liars and hypocrites in town.
Anybody else think the Exec. Dir. of Hhands makes a lot more than he wants you to think?
From Google AI- “In conclusion, while a precise salary for the Executive Director of Albany Helping Hands is not available, the data suggests a range between $80,000 and $126,000 annually, with potential for higher compensation based on specific factors.”
So let me get this straight … you’re saying they shouldn’t hold out for fair market value? Sounds to me like the bidders are just fishing for a bargain. Like Councilor Smith pointed out, the city isn’t obligated to sell these lots. Honestly, these offers feel more like folks trying to take advantage of the situation than serious buyers. I’ve been around long enough to know that lowball offers are just part of the game in real estate. Everyone hopes they can haggle. And let’s not forget, didn’t Van Vleet already walk away with close to $200k in public funds not that long ago?
Here’s the quote from the DH article “Van Vleet Meat Co. asks Albany for funds to expand” published on April 23, 2019:
“The proposal was broken into two requests: a $550,000 loan from the city’s Economic
Development Opportunity fund and $197,848 in grant funds to complete improvements to the street access, storm drains, power lines and a fire hydrant located on Jackson Street and 9th Street,”
Sorry, but it’s a slap in the face to Van Vleet. What kind of messaging is that? It is much cheaper to keep an existing, successful, & expanding business than it is to attract a new one.
It’s a slap in the face to the city to offer less than it is worth. Of course VV wants a good deal, but so does the city!
Catless, I agree with the idea that people should pay what it is worth, however, the City is well known for demanding “other things” when offering something up for sale, the bank building lot is an example, they wanted various accoutrements, apartments etc as part of the deal, all of which are not included in the appraisal. The less the City demands, the more money it would get. But do not count on that because government demands to make winners and losers. It wants control..
The city of Albany significantly harmed Van Vleet when it created the Marvin’s Garden fiasco on their front doorstep. They are lucky Van Vleet has not filed suit against them for not following their own code. Did the appraisal include the risk of potential environmental problems as a result of the recent activity on the property? Seems like holding out for another 20k holds more risk than reward for the city.
$125,000 vs $145,000? I see a compromise at $135,000. Problem solved.
Maeket value is some appraisers guess as the lots are not really desirable except for a small group of people. They didn’t have any problem giving away the Wells Fargo lot.
Any property the shelter gets will just become more of a problem for all the local businesses. The city would be wise to help the shelter move to a more suitable location. The one Jackson street property is basically the front yard of the home behind it. Has the city even considered the two homeowners that will be directly affected by what happens to the land? The little home on Jackson could be a home for a family. It is a waste of time and resources to make the area an even bigger mess with traffic and more people. Even a stop light with cameras would not help with the increase of cars and people that will flood the area. Homeless just walk in the streets already all along there. The shelter building was used for business purposes I was told, why was the shelter allowed to take an area that had better uses? It amazes me that the city works so hard to achieve nothing useful. Many people I know will end up avoiding that street to go into town, work and their homes. No one even considers what any changes it will cause for the people who use that area on a daily basis just for a few parking spots or creating a slum. . Please stop torturing us with this kind of stuff. We really would appreciate the city considering us when these decisions are made.
Wait, how much did they sell the old wells fargo building to lepman for?
They have not sold it yet.
What did they pay for all 3 properties ? if they are making a profit.. sell them..
“Council members evidently forgot that the value of property is not determined by an appraisal but by what someone is willing to pay for it.”
You’re an idiot if you don’t negotiate. They CAN pay more, they SHOULD pay more, and they WILL may more.
I would like to believe that the City has learned a lesson, 15 million on talking water gardens that doesn’t work, the whole bank building fiasco if the $310,000.00 sale goes through, paying for tearing down the bank building after buying it for $1.5 million, adding previously owned parking to make the deal, and the buyer doesn’t think he is getting a good enough deal. Maybe we are at a point that the Council has had enough of sweetheart deals………….. or not, we shall see…
Oh my goodness what have we done now? Van Vleet deserves a cheaper price just for having to put up with the damn tent City we had across the street from them for God knows how long but it was too long! Are you kidding me The helping hands shelter brings down property value! You guys ever take a look at the sex offenders list for Albany? You’re going to find a whole bunch of them at one address and that’s their shelter! Apartments our city should not even be thinking of entertaining that idea. Y’alls want to go protest about something this is what should be protested. Van Vleet shouldn’t have to negotiate. They didn’t get any negotiations on that tent City being put there today and you know that caused problems
You know your information about the CAT HOUSE is so wrong and its detrimental to what she is trying to do! https://www.kokuacats.org/ Maybe educate yourself a little on this wonderful organization before you write. Of course, the albany city council wont do anything helpful like she is offering because we need it! It will probably just end up being some industrial crap.
Lisa is right. My shorthand description of the cat proposal was inadequate, and the story has been edited accordingly. For a description of the program, see the May 28 city council agenda
Thank you! I appreciate that.
Since the City Council EXTORTED Van Vleet for $20k, hopefully, Van Vleet will charge HHands a $25k “Service FEE” for the exchange. HHands gets the property for the $25k they originally offered, and since it’s a FEE, no harm-no foul.
Who picked the appraiser? Maybe a second opinion is warranted?
Lisa, thank you for sticking up for a good cause. The only thing the city sees and hears is $$. If the CAT HOUSE had continuous funding the city would be all over it. Many people in Albany are scrabbling just to get by and all their efforts are consumed by their own needs. It is a fine thing when people remind us that humans are not the only life that is important. Anyone can afford compassion.
I wish you would hold accountable and list who voted for and against along with party affiliation.
Smith and McGhee voted to sell the properties to VanVleet for $125,000. The other four, Newton, McLeod, Thomson and Van Drimmelen, voted no. On the motion to “negotiate” the sale to VanVleet for $145,000, Smith and McGhee voted no and the others approved it. As for party affiliation, council positions are officially nonpartisan, but all six members are registered Democrats.
Maybe next time there is a property up for bidding there should be a reserve that needs to be met before bidders spend time and money on their research? $145,000.00 should have been the starting bid if that’s the lowest they were willing to accept. Councilor McLeod’s response to Van Vleet was eyebrow raising and unprofessional.
The comments from VV were equally offensive. They were trying to down-talk the value of the property as well as go into details about improvements and changes they would make to the property. Telling a seller you want to pay less to offset the improvements you want to make to the property is a slimy way of defending a lowball offer. The city shouldn’t care what someone wants to pay for improvements.
helping hands is reading this, and has no reply at all concerning 70 small apartments the albany homeless crowd had hopes for.
The 4 council members that voted against the sale are short sighted and inexperienced. They are also anti-growth, so their goal is to increase all the associated costs of building in Albany. Thus the reason they want the full price. They don’t know or understand the costs involved to even turn the property into a parking lot- but more importantly they don’t care. They have made their agenda crystal clear.
Apparently everyone has forgotten about the Cumberland church lot that the city sold to Baldwin in 2022 (different council) for $50,000 which was NOT the highest bid they received. Follow on stories told of the money pit it became for Baldwin to make it into a parking lot. A large portion of the lot is a bioswale. My memory may not be totally correct but I seem to recall that Baldwin put another $400k into the project just to make it a parking lot.
And what about the HIP? Housing implementation plan. One of the strategies was to make city owned land that was “surplus” into housing. This would be a prime opportunity for the city to take proposals for housing and “give” the land to the developer with the best plan. That way the city can put its money where its mouth is with respect to all the concern over housing. But that won’t be possible because the council cabal is anti-growth.
The problem with free is nothing is really ever free. The city will not only lose money on the sale but Van Vleet would need to move elsewhere Apartments built there would be a permanent Marvin’s garden. It would cost the city a lot of money for constant clean up, ambulance and police services. Later it would be condemned and need to be demolished at a huge cost to the city. This “homeless crisis” is causing people to scramble and stash people anywhere they can to make money off them as quickly as possible. Albany needs living wage jobs and decent affordable homes, not people kennels.