Tag: fire headquarters

Bloomington to pay $500,000 less for western part of city hall building

The view of the CFC Properties side of the former Showers furniture building, from the southwest.
The view is from the west of the Showers building. The pink outline shows the portion of the building that Bloomington has made an accepted offer to purchase from CFC Properties. The image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

In mid-July, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) gave initial approval to a $9.25 million deal to purchase CFC’s portion of the Showers building—which houses city hall in the eastern part of the building, in addition to CFC offices in the western part.

But that price has now dropped by a half million dollars.

At its regular meeting on Monday, the RDC approved an amendment to the purchase agreement that knocks the price down to $8.75 million. The address of the building is 320 W. 8th St.

Bloomington was able to negotiate a price reduction, according to a memo provided in the RDC’s meeting information packet, “[b]ased on renovation cost estimates produced by the consultants assisting with due diligence.”

During the due diligence phase for the purchase agreement, the city has brought in architects and public safety construction experts, to estimate the cost to convert the space to a police and fire administrative headquarters.

The plan would consolidate in the same building as city hall two additional facilities: the police headquarters on 3rd Street; and the fire administrative headquarters at 4th and Lincoln streets. Continue reading “Bloomington to pay $500,000 less for western part of city hall building” →

Showers building purchase update: Bloomington RDC OKs $68K in due diligence contracts

The view of the CFC Properties side of the former Showers furniture building, from the southwest.
The view is from the west of the Showers building. The pink outline shows the portion of the building that Bloomington has made an accepted offer to purchase from CFC Properties. The image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

The city of Bloomington’s hoped-for purchase of the western portion of the Showers building, where city hall is located, took an incremental step forward on Monday.

In connection with due diligence work in advance of the $9.25-million purchase from CFC Properties,  Bloomington’s RDC has approved three contracts totaling $67,800. The unanimous approvals came at the RDC’s regular meeting on Monday.

Approved at Monday’s meeting were: a contract with BCA Environmental for environmental analysis ($2,800); a contract with Tabor/Bruce Architecture & Design for investigation of the building’s mechanical systems ($15,000); and a contract with Springpoint Architects for a public safety evaluation ($50,000). Continue reading “Showers building purchase update: Bloomington RDC OKs $68K in due diligence contracts” →

$9.25M expansion of municipal footprint in Bloomington city hall building gets initial OK

Deputy mayor Don Griffin at the Bloomington redevelopment commission meeting on July 18, 2022.
Bloomington redevelopment commission meeting in the McCloskey Room of city hall on July 18, 2022.
The view of the CFC Properties side of the former Showers furniture building, from the southwest.
The view is from the west of the Showers building. The pink outline shows the portion of the building that Bloomington has made an accepted offer to purchase from CFC Properties. The image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

Last Friday, the city of Bloomington announced that its $9.25 million offer to purchase the western part of the former Showers furniture building, had been accepted by CFC Properties. City hall occupies the eastern part of the building.

Friday’s announcement was followed on Monday by an initial approval of the deal by the city’s redevelopment commission.

Monday’s action by the five-member RDC sets the stage for closing the deal no later than Jan. 31 in 2023, deputy mayor Don Griffin said at Monday’s meeting.

Various stages of due diligence are supposed to be completed over the next 60 days, including environmental inspections. That due diligence work is set to start immediately, Griffin said.

During the due diligence period, the city will also bring in architects and public safety construction experts, to estimate the cost to convert the space to a police and fire administrative headquarters, Griffin said. The city hopes to relocate to the Showers building two facilities: the police headquarters on 3rd Street; and the fire administrative headquarters at 4th and Lincoln streets.

Both of those headquarters saw heavy damage during the June 2021 downtown flood. The fire headquarters station is temporarily housed at 4th Street and College Avenue. The idea is to move about 10 administrative fire department positions to the Showers building—not to operate a fire station out of the location, according to Bloomington fire chief Jason Moore.

During Monday’s RDC meeting, some details of the negotiations that led to the provisional deal were revealed, along with a possible reason why it is the RDC that is the purchaser, and not the city of Bloomington’s general government.

Also getting some analysis was a breakdown of the 60,000-square-foot portion of the building that the city would be purchasing, and how that amount of space stacks up against the current police and fire headquarters area. Continue reading “$9.25M expansion of municipal footprint in Bloomington city hall building gets initial OK” →

$9.25M real estate deal pending, could put HQs for Bloomington police, fire in same building as city hall

The view is from the west of the Showers building. The pink outline shows the portion of the building that Bloomington has made an accepted offer to purchase from CFC Properties. The image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

In a Friday mid-morning news release, the city of Bloomington has announced that it made a $9.25 million offer to purchase the 64,000-square-foot portion of the Showers building that is currently owned by CFC Properties. CFC has accepted the offer, according to the release.

CFC Properties and the city of Bloomington are currently neighbors in the Showers building.

The purchase, which would be made by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), still depends on approval from Bloomington’s city council, according to the news release.

The agenda for the RDC’s next meeting is set for July 18.  The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for July 20. As of mid-morning on Friday, the agendas for those meetings have not yet been posted

The Showers building currently has three occupants: Bloomington’s city hall on the eastern half; Monroe County government in the northern part; and CFC Properties on the western side.

According to the news release, Bloomington is looking at consolidating its police and fire headquarters in the additional Showers building space. The police headquarters on 3rd Street was damaged in the June 2021 flood, as was the fire department headquarters on 4th Street. The fire department is currently operating the downtown station out of the  former Bunger & Robertson building at 4th and College, which is four blocks west of the flood-damaged fire station.

According to the city’s news release, the RDC will conduct due diligence on the property, before a purchase is finalized—including environmental assessment, building inspection, remodeling options, land survey, and review of existing leases and contracts. Continue reading “$9.25M real estate deal pending, could put HQs for Bloomington police, fire in same building as city hall” →