Manteca taxpayers could lose $1.1 million by a state forced sale of three parcels.
The pending forced sale of three former Manteca Redevelopment Agency properties obtained for new police headquarters, a county court complex, and a future retail site will generate an estimated $5.9 million for minimum bids based on current property appraisals.
The Manteca RDA bought the properties with tax receipts placed on a number of properties within the city limits.
When the California Legislature seized redevelopment agency assets and disbanded the economic stimulus mechanism up and down the state in order to cover perennial state budget deficits, any property still owned by an RDA that didn’t meet certain criteria for transferring the parcels to municipal ownership was ordered sold. A pro-rata share of the proceeds would go back to the Successor Agency formed under state law for economic development. The rest would go to other taxing agencies.
The three parcels are:
• 3.1 acres on the northwest corner of Airport Way and Daniels Street zoned general commercial purchased for $534,743 with the intent to resell it to a private developer for retail uses. It is now valued at $1,239,630 and is tentatively set to be auctioned on April 1, 2015. It was bought along with other properties in the area across from the Stadium Retail Center and Big League Dreams.
• Some 8.1 acres at 682 S. Main Street zoned for mixed commercial use bought for $2,600,000 and now appraised at $3,200,000. It was originally bought when the county was seriously considering building a courts complex for the South County in Manteca. The expected loss in value is cushioned somewhat by $330,000 in lease payments the city collected over a five-year period from American Modular. The auction date is set tentatively for June 1, 2015.
• A 4.9 acre parcel along with a 55,000-square-foot building that once housed Qualex at 555 Industrial Park Drive is targeted for a June 1, 2015 auction. The light industrial property was bought as a future Manteca Police Department headquarters building. The RDA paid $3,695,000 for it. It is worth an estimated $1,500,000 today.
Three other parcels will transfer to city ownership either by the city buying them or taking them over because they have no development value.
They are:
• a half acre at 123 S. Grant Ave. developed as a municipal parking lot. It was purchased for $151,300. It is currently valued at $185,000
• 1.9 acres bought between the end of Milo Candini Drive and West Yosemite Avenue that is being used to extend Milo Candini Drive to Yosemite. It was bought for $751,351 and will simply be conveyed to the city without money changing hand s because it has an established public use that is moving forward — the extension of Milo Candini Drive. The proposed April 1, 2015 “sale” date would allow the road project to move forward this year.
• a 4.8-acre parcel along the 120 Bypass and adjacent to the Stadium Retail Center that includes a large fountain and serves as a storm retention basin. It was purchased for $827,988. Since it is being used as a storm water retention basin and has no development potential, the land is being transferred to city ownership with no money exchanging hands.
