Title
Sale of Capitol Mall Building - 747 W. Van Buren St.
Description
This report requests the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee recommend City Council authorization to proceed with the sale of the Capitol Mall Building (Building), including abandoning the right-of-way upon which the Building is located and approval for a declaration of restrictive covenant.
THIS ITEM IS FOR CONSENT ACTION.
Report
Summary
A 2018 property condition assessment of the Building identified numerous facility issues and noted the overall condition of the property as fair to poor (Attachment A). In particular, the roof surface was noted to be in poor condition, with replacement recommended. No funds are currently budgeted in the Parks and Recreation Department’s five-year Capital Improvement Program for the repairs or improvements needed to make the Building safe and suitable for community use.
In January 2020, staff requested and received Parks and Recreation Board (Board) approval to proceed with the necessary steps for selling the Building. Since the Board meeting, Parks and Recreation staff has been working closely with the Street Transportation, Planning and Development, Finance and Law departments, and the Historic Preservation Office, to research the Building and the land it is located on, and determine the appropriate next steps.
Overview of the Building
The Building is a single-story structure with a basement level, located at 747 W. Van Buren St. (on the southeast corner of north 10th Avenue and west Van Buren Street), adjacent to Woodland Parkway. The Building is approximately 2,600 sq. ft. in size and was constructed around 1937, initially serving as an office for the Arizona National Guard.
Beginning around 1996, the Building has been utilized by the CMA as an office and community meeting space under an agreement with the Parks and Recreation Department; however, the agreement lapsed and there is no current, signed agreement on file. CMA continued to maintain an office in the Building and hold neighborhood meetings there as recently as November 2019. At the direction of City staff, CMA discontinued its use of the Building, based on a number of concerns including the condition of the Building and liability. The Building is currently unoccupied.
Right-of-Way Abandonment
In recent discussions with the Planning and Development and Finance departments, it was determined that the Building is located within dedicated right-of-way. This conclusion is supported by the historical record, including a recently-discovered 1996 memo from then-Parks and Recreation Director Jim Colley that stated that the Woodland Parkway property is legally right-of-way that has been maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department since approximately 1930. Planning and Development staff did not locate any abandonments of the right-of-way where the Building and Woodland Parkway are located. As such, it is staff’s professional opinion that the right-of-way must be abandoned for an Assessor Parcel Number (APN) to be assigned and the Building to be saleable.
The Law Department has reviewed the matter and concluded that the result of abandonment would be that the City would take fee title to the vacated road. The City technically owns the fee title to the roads, dedicated per plat in 1897, and would therefore receive the fee title following the conclusion of the abandonment process.
Pursuant to Phoenix City Code Section 31-64, the Street Transportation Department may make a determination that right-of-way is no longer necessary and present it to the City Council for vacation. The Street Transportation Department is joining the Parks and Recreation Department to jointly recommend the proposed abandonment to enable the sale of the Building. Once the right-of-way is abandoned, staff can work with the Maricopa County Assessor to assign an APN as reflected in Attachment B.
Staff contacted the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA), due to the Building's location within the Capitol Mall Overlay District, and confirmed ADOA has no objections to the proposed abandonment and sale processes.
Deed of Restrictive Covenant
The Building is located within the Woodland Historic District, which is on the Phoenix and national historic registers. The location of the Building within the historic district does not preclude its sale. The Historic Preservation Office recommends that a declaration of restrictive covenant (Attachment C) be approved to afford the Building certain protections from demolition upon its sale.
Building Sale
Subject to City Council approval to move forward, staff will work with the Real Estate Division of the Finance Department to appraise the Building and proceed with the sale process. The Building is intended to be offered for sale as-is.
Financial Impact
Funds from the sale of the Building would be deposited into the Phoenix Parks and Preserves Initiative (PPPI) fund.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
The Parks and Recreation Board, at its Jan. 23, 2020 meeting, approved unanimously by a vote of 4-0 to deviate from Board Policy 3.9, Public Notification of Sale or Disposition of Park Land, and proceed with seeking City Council approval to sell the Building.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Managers Inger Erickson and Mario Paniagua, and the Parks and Recreation and Street Transportation departments.