Council withdraws offer on 122 Rose Avenue after structural report flags major repairs

The Swisher City Council voted on Nov. 11 to withdraw the city's purchase offer for 122 Rose Avenue after a structural engineer's inspection raised concerns about the building's foundation and roof.

A structural engineer told the council he observed what appeared to be a flat roof overlaid with later work and flagged a potentially failing foundation at the northwest corner. He recommended additional excavation down to sound masonry and said a more detailed inspection could take two days.

The engineer's report indicated the building, constructed in the early 1900s, may require significant work: roof removal, foundation repair and bracing replacement to meet modern code. The engineer said it was "impossible to predict the severity of the damage without excavating down to sound masonry" in the affected corner.

"Given the number of unknowns and potential for high repair costs, I move that we withdraw our offer based on the engineering report," a council member said; the motion passed.

Why it matters: councilors said spending $275,000 of city funds without a full understanding of repair costs would be imprudent. Members discussed obtaining an appraisal and further engineering before any future purchase decision. One councilor said lenders typically require an appraisal and that an appraisal would provide comparable values and context for whether the city would be overpaying.

Next steps: staff said the purchase agreement had a structural-inspection contingency, and the council confirmed it would not proceed without further, detailed analyses. The council also discussed whether leftover bond funds could be repurposed for other projects now that the purchase was off the table.