ANNA MARIA – The city is buying the building and property at 307 Pine Ave. for $1 million to relocate the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office substation.
For the past several years, the city has leased the building and used it as a city hall annex for the building department and public works department. The 2,021-square-foot building will be the new headquarters for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Anna Maria Unit led by Sgt. Brett Getman.
The Anna Maria Unit is currently housed in a small area on one side of the nearby city hall building. The building department will return to city hall and the public works office will remain at the rear of the annex.
On Sept. 27, the city received a letter from property owner Lizzie Vann’s attorney offering to sell the building and property to the city. After privately discussing the potential purchase with each city commissioner, Mayor Dan Murphy publicly presented the proposed purchase to the commission on Oct. 19.
Murphy said a commercial property appraiser appraised the value at $1.1 million. He noted Vann’s offer would expire the following day and she wants to close the sale in November.
The city currently pays $55,405 a year to lease the building and property. The lease expires in 2.5 years. Murphy said if the city didn’t buy the building, someone else would, and that would create uncertainty as to whether the city could continue leasing the much-needed space.
Rather than paying more than 5% interest on a 10-year commercial loan, Murphy suggested using a variety of existing city funds for the purchase. He recommended taking $481,851 from the general contingency fund set aside for unanticipated expenses during the 2023-24 fiscal year, leaving $500,000 in remaining contingency funds. He proposed using $268,149 in additional contingency funds allotted for various individual capital improvement projects and using $250,000 earmarked specifically for future land purchases.
Murphy said the cash purchase would leave the city with enough reserve funds to cover 48% of the city’s annual operating costs, well above the 25-30% best practices recommended for coastal communities.
“I don’t see a depreciable impact on our reserves. We’re still in a good financial position with $2.2 million in reserves,” he said, adding that the city’s closing costs would be approximately $1,000.
“I highly recommend we purchase this property while we can. I believe there’s other buyers interested and what do we do in two and a half years when that lease expires?” he said.
Commissioner Robert Kingan said the purchase price equates to less than $500 per square foot, not counting the land.
“To my way of thinking, this is a very advantageous purchase,” he said.
Commissioner Jon Crane said, “The downside to not doing it is who’s going to buy it and what are they going to do there besides kick the city out. I’m all for it.”
“I agree. It definitely seems like a good buy and we definitely need the space,” Commissioner Charlie Salem said.
“It is a very good opportunity for the city and we will still have $2.2 million in reserves,” Commission Chair Mark Short said.
The commission voted 4-0 in favor of the purchase.
After the meeting, Sgt. Getman said, “We’re thrilled and excited to move down to the city annex. During holidays and special events, we have nine to 12 deputies here. This will provide us with more adequate space to house our personnel and vehicles.”
