GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- County officials hope to have an offer to buy their administration building on South Saginaw Street from the Mass Transportation Authority before moving into a new headquarters several blocks to the north next spring.
Negotiations are continuing as the transit agency assesses environmental issues tied to the property, which was recently appraised at negative $3.5 million, Genesee County Administration Director Joshua Freeman and MTA General Manager Ed Benning said.
Built in 1968, the building houses offices for the county Board of Commissioners and other county government departments. A 2018 study of the 115,000-square-foot structure projected the cost of needed repairs at nearly $33 million.
Three years ago, commissioners rejected investing more in the property, instead purchasing the north tower of the old Citizens Bank complex from the University of Michigan for $8.5 million. The county is planning to consolidate employees from several buildings into the renovated 160,000-square-foot former bank building.
Demolishing the existing county offices -- something Benning has said MTA would likely do to create a new central bus terminal -- would also be expensive because of the presence of asbestos.
Despite the obstacles to redevelopment, MTA officials are "very interested" in seeing the deal happen, Benning said Monday, Dec. 9.
Both the MTA Board of Directors and the commissioners still must agree to the terms of the sale.
Freeman told commissioners during a committee meeting last week he hopes to have secured the sale before employees begin moving out of their current offices, likely early in the second quarter of 2025.
Commissioner Delrico Loyd, D-Flint, said he wants to see details of the plans for the property before the board is asked to approve a sale.
"This is a large property (in) our county's seat" of government, Loyd said. It's a "very, very important property."
"I think that it's important that whoever we're ultimately going to sell this large parcel of property to ... come before this commission and share with the group before we finish a sale," he said.
Commissioners authorized Freeman to start negotiations aimed at selling the property to MTA in June after the agency expressed interest in relocating its central terminal from East Second and Harrison streets.
By moving a few blocks south, MTA would free up its existing terminal for redevelopment in a booming area of downtown that is anchored by the Flint Farmers Market and where a new YMCA and expansion of Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine are underway.
In the same area in 2017, the Capitol Theatre reopened after a $37-million restoration, and in 2018, developers demolished the former YWCA building on East Third Street to make way for a mixed income and townhome development called "The Marketplace."
Loyd was one of two commissioners who initially voted against entering negotiations to sell the administration building to MTA without making the property available to other potential buyers as well.
Commissioners had previously approved a policy for the sale and disposal of real estate that allows for property sales after receiving a purchase request from an interested buyer. The policy prioritizes requests from other government agencies and nonprofit organizations before public sales.
In addition to Loyd, Commissioner Shawn Shumaker, R-Fenton Township, voted against the resolution authorizing negotiations with MTA.