Bulk Discount On Town’s Office Condos

    East Hampton Town’s proposed sale of its seven office condominium units at 300 Pantigo Place is moving forward, with yesterday marking the deadline for bidders.

    Specifications called for a minimum bid price of $3 million for all seven units, though an appraiser set the value of them, as a bulk sale, at $3.7 million. Sold individually, the units should fetch $4.4 million, according to a letter included in the bid packet from the appraisers, Givens Associates. However, the town board announced last month that a potential buyer had indicated interest in buying all of the units, provided a closing could take place immediately.

    An additional discount for a quick sale, within 60 to 90 days, results in an estimated price of $3.4 to $3.6 million, according to the appraisal. The price offered by the interested buyer was not disclosed, but Councilwoman Theresa Quigley said he or she had requested that the board seek other bids to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

    A legal notice to bidders was published in the Dec. 8 issue of The East Hampton Star. The board also approved issuing the bid for the sale in a resolution passed last Thursday night. It gave bidders until yesterday to make an offer.

    According to the town Purchasing Department, the response time for bidders, which is set by the town board, can vary, but is normally two to four weeks. 

    The space is currently occupied by the Planning, Natural Resources, Information Technology, and Building Departments, fire marshals, tax assessors and receivers, town engineer, and zoning, planning, and architectural review board offices. All would need new quarters after a year. The proposed sale terms call for allowing the town to occupy the office condos for a year from the closing, rent free, but where they would be housed after that has not been publicly discussed.

    In planning the reconstruction of historic buildings on the main Town Hall campus to house some town offices, a previous town board had discussed selling the condominium units and rebuilding the old Town Hall to accommodate the displaced departments.

    In discussing the potential sale last month, Supervisor Bill Wilkinson noted that “the purpose was in some way to get cash for the rehabilitation.” However, he added, an engineer had estimated it would cost $500,000 just to make the old building structurally sound.