Located at 7650 Timbercrest Drive, the 19-acre site was listed on the GovDeals website, an online marketplace for government agencies to sell surplus property and items, in early February, with a starting bid of $500,000.
Blue Logic Capital won that auction, but the company’s $2.3 million bid was ultimately rejected by ADAMHS.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
BLC owner Tom Manning was indicted late last year by a Franklin County grand jury on 19 felony charges related to investment fraud, and while the ADAMHS board did not confirm the indictments as the reason for rejection of the company’s bid, the Timbercrest site has since been re-listed on the GovDeals website.
Gore said this week city officials are concerned about the process, and that he believed the city was working toward an agreement to take over the property.
“We believed we had a solid agreement to work through in which the city would have acquired the property for $1 and absorbed all the costs of demolition of the current buildings on site, which is a cost of approximately $600,000, and then split any profits generated from the sale and development of the property,” he wrote in an email on Saturday.
But ADAMHS spokeswoman Colleen Oakes said in response that the while the board did receive an inquiry from the city, this did not include an offer to split profits.
“ADAMHS received inquiries about the property and sought guidance from the state on allowable disposition of the property prior to listing it on GovDeals.com; the city of Huber Heights was one of those inquiries via an email to purchase the campus for $1 and (covering) expenses ADAMHS incurred while holding the property,” Oakes said via email on Tuesday. “We did not receive any offer to split the profits generated from the sale and development of the property. In fact, our correspondence from them states that, after reimbursement of any holding costs, ‘remaining proceeds stay with the city.‘”
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Email records obtained by Dayton Daily News via public records request from the city show Assistant City Manager Aaron Sorrell corresponded with ADAMHS officials in September and toured the campus around that time.
A Sept. 20 email from Sorrell to David Holbrook, ADAMHS administrative director, outlines the city’s interest in acquiring the property with the following purchase terms:
- Purchase price: $1.00
- No covenants or restrictions that impact future sale or reuse of the property
- When/if the city sells the property, proceeds will be distributed in the following priority:
- The city is reimbursed for its holding and remediation costs;
- ADAMHS is reimbursed for its holding costs;
- Remaining proceeds stay with the city.
“Let me know if these general terms are acceptable,” Sorrell ends the email. “If so, we will draft a purchase agreement, subject to approval by our respective board and council.”
Records show Holbrook responded to the email, stating, “I am sharing with our legal counsel for review.”
A second follow up email from Holbrook to Sorrell, dated Sept. 30, confirms ADAMHS is “awaiting further guidance” from the organization’s legal department regarding the city’s proposed purchase terms.
Sorrell, on Oct. 23, emails Holbrook to “see if there’s been any movement” on the property, to which Holbrook responds the following day, “... (W)e have not heard back from the state of Ohio yet and we are following up this week ... More to come.”
According to Sorrell, he did not hear anything further from ADAMHS until January, when Holbrook confirmed the property would be listed on GovDeals.
Oakes said on Tuesday ADAMHS decided to go a different route to secure necessary funds from the sale of the property.
“As critical funding for human services is at stake both locally and nationally, ADAMHS views this sale as an opportunity to secure additional revenue that allows us to offer a wide range of behavioral health services for the residents of Montgomery County. Any revenue from this sale will help offset our recent budget deficit, putting dollars back into services and providing a cushion for Human Services Levy funding,” Oakes said. “If we sold the property for $1, the new buyers would realize these proceeds – not the behavioral health system. With this priority in mind, the decision was made to partner with GovDeals.com to allow all interested parties to submit their highest bids."
Gore said this week the city’s main concern is for the senior residents who live in the development neighboring the Timbercrest property.
“Being that the YWCA abandoned the property, any intended use for that property has to be approved by the city planning commission and city council; we are going to be extremely selective about what use will be approved based on the fact that next door is a senior living community and a neighborhood park,” Gore said. “Our senior residents who have lived there for years are very worried about what kind of use someone is going to want to put there and we’re not going to allow just anything.”
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