Thursday, November 01, 2012
(Monroe, WA) Today, the City of Monroe successfully closed its sale of 5 acres to Providence Health & Services – Washington, selling for a price of $2,504,849.50.
“This is a good day for the taxpayers in the City of Monroe. For nearly a decade the City has been financially burdened by debt on vacant commercial land in the North Kelsey commercial area. A fresh approach and recent proactive efforts are paying off. We welcome Providence to their new location and are fully prepared to assist them during their permitting process and construction of this new medical facility in our fine City”, said Robert Zimmerman, Mayor of Monroe.
The City Council has adopted a Resolution to use the proceeds from the sale of City assets to pay off bond debt, fund reserve accounts and to establish a contingency fund which Council can use for yet to be identified capital or one time projects. “This Resolution established the basis for sound fiscal management in the City. With the proceeds of the land sales now being realized, the City and the taxpayers are stepping on to very solid ground financially”, said Gene Brazel, City Administrator.
“We look forward to a very bright future for Monroe as we work our way through the challenging economic climate faced by all local government. This Council’s reserve policy, lead by councilmember Tom Williams, coupled with the revenue to fund the reserves proves that the taxpayer should have great confidence in their City leadership” said Zimmerman.
Providence intends to begin construction in November 2012 with the scheduled opening date in October 2013.
This sale is the first of three currently pending City owned land transactions to close.
The second parcel, a sale to Sabey Corporation is pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Friends of North Kelsey (F.O.N.K). Should the Court of Appeals rule in favor of Walmart (the identified buyer from Sabey) and the City of Monroe, the City will receive $7,500,000 upon closing.
The Third parcel is the fee title interest underlying Galaxy Theaters. While Galaxy Theaters will continue to operate its first class Theater the City will no longer be its landlord, rather the new buyer, Beta-Kelsey, will be. The City has a $2,000,000 pending sale to Beta-Kelsey.
Contact: Jeff Sax – Economic Development Manager, 360-863-4521, jsax@monroe.gov
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