Some green spaces on the down plaza in Jacksonville may be changing hands soon. The Jacksonville City Council approved putting up for sale two separate parcels of property during their regular meeting Monday night. The lots are located at 203 and 205 East Morgan Street and 42 North Central Park Plaza.
City Attorney Dan Beard says the city decided to entertain the idea of letting go of the lots after interest was shown by at least one individual recently. “The council declared some property down on the plaza as surplus property which is a first step they legally have to take in order to dispose of those properties.
One is the lot just west of the old Sears building and the other is the lot south of the old Denney Jewelers on Morgan. With both of these, individuals expressed interest in acquiring those lots for some projects that he is looking to do downtown. So the council has agreed that that’s surplus property. We’ll publish a resolution in the newspaper indicating the terms of sale.”
During the workshop discussion, Beard reported that the lot at North Central Park Plaza was appraised at $10,000, and the lots on East Morgan were appraised at $8,000 each.
Per statute to declare the properties surplus, the parcels not only have to be appraised, but the city has to receive at least 80% of the appraised value in order to accept a bid.
He says one thing that is unique about this type of sale under the municipal code is that the city does not have to accept the highest bidder, and can take into account each bidder’s proposal for the use of the property as a motivating factor in the sale.
Beard says any bidders who are interested can submit a bid by next Friday, September 8th. The bids will then be considered during the next scheduled council meeting on the following Monday, September 11th.