FAYETTEVILLE — The City Council could decide next week whether to sell a portion of the former Tyson Mexican Original property at Huntsville and Happy Hollow roads to Kum & Go convenience stores.
Meeting Information
Fayetteville City Council
Also on Jan. 15, the council is set to consider:
-A $25,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality for an electronic waste coupon redemption program
-Updated building codes for commercial development and residential structures taller than three stories
-More than $1.4 million in vehicle purchases for the city’s Water and Sewer Division, Fire Department and Police Department and material purchases for street, sidewalk and trail construction in 2013.
Source: Staff Report
Mayor Lioneld Jordan told aldermen Tuesday that Kum & Go’s $900,000 offer gives the city an opportunity to demolish an unsightly building, recoup some of the $1.1 million it spent to buy the property in 2005 and draw a new, tax-paying business to town.
City officials and Kum & Go representatives are negotiating over 1.9 acres on the northeast corner of the 10-acre site. That leaves another lot available for purchase off Happy Hollow Road, and between 4 and 5 acres on the south end of the property could be used for municipal purposes. City Attorney Kit Williams has said the third lot, with no street frontage, would make an ideal home for the Parks and Recreation or Police departments.
City officials have struggled for years to find a use for the shuttered building.
Various nonprofit groups have used the former tortilla and corn chip plant for storage, and the building served as headquarters for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in 2005. Ideas for the plant at one time included a joint command center for the Police and Fire departments, and, more recently, a community arts incubator.
Jordan said Tuesday the price of renovating the dilapidated structure has been prohibitive.
According to 2008 estimates by Lynn Hyke, city construction and contract manager, renovation would cost at least $8 million. A 2009 study by the Strategic Planning Department concluded the property would be worth more money with no building on it.
“Ultimately, the goal, in our opinion, is to get the building back to land,” Don Marr, the mayor’s chief of staff, said Tuesday.
Marr said police officers routinely respond to reports of trespassing, drug dealing, vagrancy and loitering on the property. Thieves stripped copper from electrical wiring in the building in 2005.
“This is a building we secure almost monthly,” Marr said. “We can ... in less than 48 hours, have a door propped open, plywood removed, windows broken and reentry into the building.”
In addition to the $1.1 million purchase price, the city paid more than $235,000 for utilities and property taxes between 2005 and 2007, according to the Strategic Planning Department’s 2009 report.
Through the Tyson plant’s purchase, the city acquired right of way for street realignment and land where a new fire station was built.
According to terms of a Dec. 14 letter of intent from Rob Wadle, a Kum & Go real estate representative, to city officials, Kum & Go would bear 25 percent of the cost of demolishing the former Tyson plant at up to $100,000. A 2009 estimate from Ark Wrecking Co. of Tulsa, Okla., predicted it would cost $475,000 total to tear down the building and dispose of all materials.
Wadle agreed in principle to splitting the cost of road construction along the western and southern borders of the Kum & Go lot. The intersection at Happy Hollow and Huntsville roads would become a four-way stop, according to designs by CEI engineers.
The city, as a condition for the sale, would guarantee there are no underground storage tanks or hazardous material, such as asbestos or radon gas, on the premises. The city would also restrict other gasoline stations, tobacco shops and liquor stores from being on city-owned land within one mile.
“We’re not restricting any private property,” Williams emphasized Tuesday.
Williams said, since news of the negotiation with Kum & Go was publicized, he’s been approached by representatives for another convenience store interested in the same property: Casey’s General Stores of Ankeny, Iowa. Williams said late Tuesday he hasn’t received a written offer from Casey’s.
“If we got an offer that’s higher for the same amount of acreage, we would bringing it here for you to look at as a comparative offer,” Marr told aldermen.
City Council members will consider accepting Kum & Go’s offer Jan. 15 meeting.