Research suggests one is a Democrat, not that it matters much.

Bottom line is it was a bad real estate investment with good intent, doomed by slow action which stretched into bad market conditions.

Most likely buyer in 2006 wanted to develop another gas station; not out of character for A1A, but not needed, and not in character with the residential neighborhood behind it.

Ad hoc committee held several meetings for public input, many in one short span, and then one more a few years later.

Basically NOBODY wanted a gas station, but there was no real consensus other than avoiding a high-intensity use, so the city's decision was to deed-restrict it, and then re-sell it for a desirable use.

Big problem was the real-estate crash starting in 2007 thru recession in 2009. Prior to that, it didn't look like a bad investment, or hard-to-resell piece of property.

An appraisal was done as part of the ad hoc committee process. Report determined "highest and best use" would likely be as a bank, jewelry store, or gas station, (and maybe a restaurant?) iirc.

Lot was part of the CRA redevelopment area, so it was technically the CRA that bought it. If they had gotten it back on the tax rolls and saw it appreciate in value (as was their desire), the CRA (effectively = the city), they would have also gotten to keep the county's portion of the tax increment fund. Another gamble that seemed very logical in 2006. A "signature property" via its size and location, it could have been turned into *something* nicer than a gas station.

I think lessons learned include generally not having your city get involved in the real estate business, and to make decisions at a faster pace than government entities typically do. But I appreciate the fact that they took lots of input from immediate neighbors and all city residents who made the effort to comment (at meetings and via email list).

Very expensive lessons though.




I think I read the current appraised value was somewhere around $800K, so not that great a market either.

I don't know anything factual about other offers the city received, either dollar-wise or intended use. Deed restrictions preventing certain uses may also have driven the appraised and resale values down.