Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Sale Northeast Business Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Northland Electric offers to buy 2 acres in Northeast Business Center; committee recommends council review
Summary
The Economic Development Committee reviewed an offer from Northland Electric to buy 2 acres in the Northeast Business Center, discussed price credits tied to assessed value, and recommended the offer be forwarded to the City Council with amendments on acceptance date and a five‑year right of first refusal for the adjacent lot.
The City of New London Economic Development Committee on April 22 recommended the City Council consider an offer from Northland Electric to purchase two acres in the Northeast Business Center.
City staff said Northland Electric submitted an offer to buy two acres to expand its operations and build a combined assembly/storage building with two business suites. The committee was asked to recommend that the council approve the sale with amendments to the buyer’s acceptance deadline and language addressing a right of first refusal on the adjacent lot.
City staff described the sales terms as a base price of $10,000 per acre with a credit policy that reduces the sale price based on planned assessed value. Using city assessor figures for the proposed improvements, staff calculated an assessed value of $745,400 for the parcel, which produced an applied credit of $14,908 and a net sales price of $5,092 for the two acres after credits. Staff said the buyer would be required to complete $750,000 in improvements within one year of closing; failure to do so would revert the property to the city.
Committee members asked whether the lot had been resurveyed (staff: yes), who paid the survey cost (city), and whether utilities were in place (staff: water, sewer, storm sewer and gas are available). Committee members also questioned how a five‑year right of first refusal on the retained Lot 2 would be treated in a future sale and whether the purchase agreement should allocate separate consideration for the right of first refusal. City staff and the city attorney noted case law risks if a right of first refusal is granted without contractual consideration; staff said city legal counsel would work with the buyer’s attorney to add consideration and finalize language.
The committee voted to recommend to council the offer to purchase, with the amendments discussed regarding the acceptance date (to align with council action on May 20) and the right of first refusal language to be reviewed by the city attorney.
Next steps: staff will finalize the contract language with the buyer’s attorney, correct the acceptance deadline to the May 20 council meeting, and forward the amended offer to the City Council for approval.
