Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008 | 1:03 p.m.
CVS Pharmacy still needs to buy one small piece of city land before it can start building a new store at the gateway to downtown, but a resident has outbid the company for the parcel, saying the city wasn't getting a fair price.
Former City Councilman Bill Smith told the City Council Dec. 9 that he would pay $131,497 for the 5,400 square-foot spot at the southeast corner of Nevada Way and Buchanan Boulevard.
That's about $46,500 more than CVS's negotiated price of $85,000.
Smith said he would withdraw his offer if CVS would match it.
The company bought the shuttered Starview Motel and Fortune China restaurant on Nevada Way, but can't build the $4 million store until it secures the city parcel along Buchanan, Dave Johnson, CVS's real estate agent, said.
Johnson said he has worked to get the land for four years, and the business would bring the city $30,000 in tax revenue every year.
City Manager Vicki Mayes was unavailable for comment, but city staff said the parcel is being sold as a lot line adjustment, only to neighboring owners, and not through an open bid process. Because of that, the City Council, which will ultimately approve the sale, will not have to consider Smith's proposal.
The council was scheduled Dec. 9 to sell the land to CVS, but postponed a vote until Jan. 13, after staff realized they hadn't notified owners of a neighboring property.
A 50-foot stretch south of the property borders a trailer park, and City Attorney Dave Olsen said he would notify its owners, the Thompson Family Trust. Representatives of the trust could not be reached for comment.
The city negotiated a price of $15.73 per square foot with CVS, because the company promised to tear down the vacant and unkempt buildings within a year of sale.
Johnson said the new business will bring long-term benefits to the city and assure the timely clean-up of the highly visible lot.
Smith, who owns the closed-down Arco gasoline station on the southwest corner of the intersection, said in a Dec. 4 letter to the City Council he thinks the city's parcel should be worth more, because it's crucial for CVS, which needs access to Buchanan.
"This appears to be just another example of the city structuring a sale of city-owned land so that something less than a fair value is received," he said.
If he purchased the lot, Smith said via e-mail, he would develop it with CVS, although it could be developed on its own.
"My main concern is that the city get a fair price," he said.
Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].
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