WEB Redux (Re-do?)

The City Council heard testimony at a Public Hearing last night on whether or not to sell the WEB building and the 14 acres of property it sits on.  It is the largest tract of land in the city and is situated on a major thoroughfare in close proximity to the I-5 freeway.   Many citizens testified both for and against an immediate sale of the property.  The main themes were:

• Keep the property - there aren't any more large pieces of land in case the city needs to expand their facilities (city hall, police and 911 call center, library, meeting rooms, etc.).
• There is no long range plan for what facilities the city will need in the future, so hold the property until a firm plan is formulated.
• Sell the property as soon as possible.  It should never have been purchased in the first placee and has been a financial drag on the city ever since.  
• Sell the property, all city services should be kept downtown anyway (except police, 911 call center and facilities maintenance - Lake Grove can have those).
• We can't afford the WEB or remodeling or replacing current facilities - make do with what we have.  
• Do whatever is financially responsible.  The Budget Committee has not looked at the financial side, and one speaker said the property may not have been widely advertised for the best offers.
• Shouldn't we know what the buyer wants to do with the property before we sell it?

The City Council decided unanimously to hold off on a decision to sell until the next council meeting on October 8.  Everyone hopes that they will give a rationale to either keep or sell the property that takes into account current and future needs of the city and options that make sense. 

So what DOES Kensington Investment Group want to do with the property?  At this point it's anyone's guess, but here is a list of property types the company is looking to acquire:

Retail

• Existing or ground up development of single tenant, multi tenant strip or anchor with credit focused tenancy
• Strong location on major vehicular or pedestrian throughfares
• Core, secondary or tertiary markets

Multifamily

• Strong Job or population growth oriented markets
• Minimum – 100 units
• Core or strong secondary markets
• Class A or B properties

Hotel

• Minimum –100 rooms
• Secondary or tertiary markets
• Flagged or flaggable properties

Ideal size range: $5 – $50 million