In hopes privately developed real estate will grow the city’s property tax revenue, the Columbus Redevelopment Authority plans to extend its contract with the Columbus Municipal School District to market and sell the former Lee Middle School’s almost 15-acre property, according to CRA president John Acker.
CRA purchased a $1 option from CMSD in July 2016, allowing the redevelopment authority to market the property for one year and to extend the contract for another $1 if the property is not sold by July 20, 2017.
While addressing Columbus’ Rotary Club Tuesday at Lion Hills Center, Acker said CRA hired several agencies to complete environmental studies of Lee Middle School — including a study which identified an asbestos issue at the former school building. He said those examinations have concluded, and if Lee Middle School sells, it would be the buyer’s responsibility to handle concerns raised by the studies.
Acker said CRA spent about $20,000 of its $55,000 city council-allocated budget for this fiscal year on the site examinations.
According to appraisals conducted by Appraisal Services in Columbus, the estimated cost to develop the Lee Middle property would range between $1.1 million and $1.8 million. Acker said, however, the developer could be eligible for reimbursement under Mississippi’s Economic Redevelopment Act.
“The act is designed to put money back into communities,” Acker told Rotarians.
Earlier this year, CRA partnered with Farmer Commercial Properties, a Starkville-based realty firm, to market the Lee Middle School property at the corner of Military Road and 18th Avenue. CRA is asking $1.79 million for the property.
Lee Middle School, located on Military Road, closed its doors in 2011 after the students moved to Columbus Middle School, and CMSD has been trying to sell the property since.
Burns Bottom project continues
Despite a seeming lull in its Burns Bottom project, Acker said Tuesday the redevelopment authority is continuing with its original plan to purchase and redevelop properties between Seventh and Second avenue north near the downtown soccer complex.
However, Acker said the board is seeking new means of funding to purchase the properties after the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors declined in 2015 to partner with the Columbus City Council to purchase the lots.
“Just because the county says no doesn’t mean we’re going to stop doing what the city of Columbus needs,” Acker told The Dispatch after the Rotary meeting.
According to Acker, the board has used a portion of its own funds to buy at least four of the 68 private properties in the proposed redevelopment project area of Burns Bottom and is in the process of negotiating more purchases.
Acker told Rotary CRA’s job is to improve blighted areas in Columbus and ultimately increase the city’s property tax base.
He added that while the downtown soccer complex is an important aspect of the city, land around the complex should be developed to complement the recreational area.
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