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Finance Committee OKs purchase of five Kingston Business Park parcels for $25,000
Summary
The committee authorized buying five small, slope‑prone parcels adjacent to Kingston Business Park for a combined $25,000 and agreed to move into an executive session to discuss the real‑estate transaction.
The Finance Committee on April 12 authorized the city to purchase five adjacent parcels on Fourth Avenue abutting the Kingston Business Park for a combined $25,000, a city staff presenter said.
The parcels are being acquired to preserve a future connection between the business park and the adjoining Avenues neighborhood and to give the city a strategic position should redevelopment occur, the presenter said.
Bartek, a city housing staff member who led the study of the business park, told the committee the redevelopment study found the park could support up to 600 housing units along with new commercial uses. He said the five parcels are steep and not suited for building but would be useful as a pedestrian access point between the neighborhood and the business park. "Because there's this current opportunity to purchase these lots, I think we should take it," Bartek said.
Bartek said the parcels total just over one acre and that the 2023 assessment for each parcel was $16,000. He told the committee the $25,000 asking price for all five parcels is well below the assessed values he reviewed and that he had compared recent sales (but did not provide a formal appraisal before the vote). He also said the parcels include wet or slopey areas and could be used as open space or future parkland if not redeveloped.
A committee report read into the record identified the properties by address ranges on Fourth Avenue and estimated the financial impact at $25,000. Committee members moved and seconded the purchase authorization and the committee voted unanimously to approve the purchase. After that vote the committee approved a motion to go into executive session "to discuss a real estate transaction, and allow all city employees to attend," as required before discussing sale terms.
The committee and staff framed the acquisition as a strategic, low‑cost landholding to support long‑term redevelopment options for the business park corridor; no formal development plan or timeline was adopted at the meeting.
Next steps: staff signaled they could discuss appraisal and negotiation details in executive session and would return with any required documentation or a resolution for full council approval, as appropriate.
