Council workshop directs staff to draft deed restrictions and pursue sale process for Idaho Center

City council members at a workshop discussed putting the Idaho Center on the open market and directed staff to draft deed restrictions and begin the statutory process to determine whether the property is underutilized, with an initial underutilization declaration scheduled for Sept. 2 and a public hearing expected in October.

The council discussed price estimates and sale mechanics as the most immediate questions. Councilmember B said, “So if there's somebody out there who's willing to pay 20,000,000, then why don't you ask them to put an offer together and we can look at it in a week?” Legal counsel warned that state law requires a public sale to the highest bidder and that the council must follow the statutory underutilization and public-notice timeline if it wants to sell. “It has to be sold at a public auction to the highest bidder,” Legal Counsel said.

The workshop focused on three practical issues: (1) what deed restrictions should be attached to any sale to preserve community events, (2) whether to accept bids or pursue a conveyance to a governmental entity, and (3)…