More than two years after it was shuttered due to budget cuts, the former Swan Creek Library building on Tacoma’s east side appears poised to be sold.
Tacoma City Council is expected to vote on a resolution later this month to authorize the sale of the building, which is owned by the City of Tacoma and located at 3828 Portland Avenue, to “4 Rent Check.com, LLC” for $91,000.
The building was on the market for most of last year. The city issued two requests for proposals, held two open houses for potential buyers, and even lowered the minimum asking price from $400,000 to $300,000. In October, city officials hired a local real estate broker, First Western Properties, to bolster its effort to find the right buyer. The broker received four bids on the property.
One condition of the property sale involved approval by an advisory committee consisting of representatives from the City of Tacoma, Tacoma Public Library, Eastside Neighborhoods Advisory Council of Tacoma, and the First Creek Stewardship Group in order to find a buyer who planned to use the property in a way that benefitted the surrounding community.
“Based on their evaluation of the proposals, the Selection Advisory Committee is recommending that the City sell the Swan Creek Library to 4 Rent Check.com, LLC, represented by Darren Gill,” wrote Conor McCarthy, assistant division manager in the city’s real property services department, in a Feb. 25 memo requesting the resolution. “Gill has provided a comprehensive proposal to rehabilitate the facility and activate it for operation as a daycare center.”
In 1984, Tacoma paid Fellowship Bible Church $37,500 for the property on which to build the Swan Creek branch, which cost $743,000 to construct, including $42,114 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Tacoma also paid the church $11,000 in 1988 to acquire land for the library’s parking lot. The library opened in 1989. In 2012, the assessed value totaled approximately $723,400. However, the Swan Creek branch building accrued approximately $450,000 in deferred maintenance: the roof and ventilation system needed to be replaced, and exterior walls and windows needed to be repaired.
Last summer, the city sold the former Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Library building, located at 1902 South Cedar Street and shuttered since 2011, for $700,000 to a local doctor who plans to use the site as a non-profit medical center.
Tacoma City Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on a resolution to sell the property during its meeting on Tues., March. 19, at 5 p.m. in City Council Chambers on the first floor of the Tacoma Municipal Building, located at 747 Market Street. Council meetings are streamed live online at tvtacoma.com and broadcast live on TV Tacoma. UPDATE: The item is officially on the agenda.
To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of the Swan Creek Library and MLK Library building sales, click on the following links:
- Tacoma partners with real estate broker on Swan Creek Library sale (Tacoma Daily Index, 10/29/12)
- Tacoma sells shuttered MLK library branch (Tacoma Daily Index, 06/27/12)
- New minimum bid, deadline for Swan Creek Library sale (Tacoma Daily Index, 06/18/12)
- Tacoma poised to sell MLK library branch for $700K (Tacoma Daily Index, 06/11/12)
- Open houses planned for 2 surplus Tacoma library branch properties (Tacoma Daily Index, 04/25/12)
- For prospective library building buyers, bring your checkbook (and good intentions) (Tacoma Daily Index, 02/03/12)
More than two years after it was shuttered due to budget cuts, the former Swan Creek Library building on Tacoma’s east side appears poised to be sold. (PHOTO BY TODD MATTHEWS)
