The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

November 7, 2009

County floats Nichols price: $385,100

By Dan Linehan

MANKATO — The Nichols Office Building may go on sale Tuesday for $385,100 and the promise that the buyer won’t ask for any help from the county.

The price, which is the assessed value of the land under and around the building, is only a starting point and can be changed by the County Board, Administrator Dennis McCoy said. Including the assessed value of the building itself and a house that also sits on the parcel would push the cost past $2 million.

“I think that’s not a realistic number frankly,” McCoy said.

A Mankato developer, Mike Brennan, has expressed a desire to turn the office building into condominiums.

He declined comment Friday, but has said in the past that a redevelopment project could generate up to $80,000 per year in property taxes.

Nichols was built in 1958 and housed classrooms for Mankato State College. Blue Earth County bought the building in the late 1990s to ease space concerns.

The County Board had planned to demolish the building and keep the space for future county use. Part of the shift happened after a September special election that replaced Colleen Landkamer, who supported the demolition, with Drew Campbell, who wants to explore selling it.

The county had operated some of its departments in Nichols and leased the rest. After it built the Justice Center, the departments left and the county decided it didn’t want to compete with private real estate businesses.

Nichols and the house are now empty.

McCoy said the company that insures Nichols wants the building’s sprinklers to remain usable, requiring the structure to be heated above the freezing point so the pipes don’t burst.

Campbell said he’s glad the County Board is looking at alternatives to demolition. He would like to divide the parcel so it’s cheaper.

“Because of the economic environment, it may be very difficult to find a buyer,” he said.

The cost of demolition is estimated to be $600,000.

McCoy said the County Board doesn’t want a potential buyer to ask for public subsidies. Another requirement he suggests is to require the buyer to develop the building within a year of its purchase.

The County Board meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Historic Courthouse.

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