COLUMBUS, Ind. — City officials are taking steps to sell two parcels of riverfront property to Moravec Realty.
The Columbus Redevelopment Commission has approved a resolution authorizing the disposal of property at 15 Brown Street and “46 E and Water Street” in downtown Columbus. Together, the parcels add up to about 3.5 acres.
“This is property that is south of the railroad tracks along Water Street,” said Redevelopment Director Heather Pope. “We have two parcels there that the city of Columbus transferred to us. I believe it was in 2020. And the intent of that transfer is for the redevelopment commission to be able to start preparing the site for development.”
The two parcels are part of an agreement between the redevelopment commission and Moravec Realty, she said.
In December of 2020, the commission purchased property at 555 First St. from Moravec for $555,000 so that the new Bartholomew County court services building could be constructed at the site.
The commission contributed to this construction project as part of a property swap deal with the county in order to obtain a downtown block surrounded by Second, Franklin, Third and Lafayette streets for construction of a new hotel conference center.
Stan Gamso, who was the commission’s attorney at the time, said that the purchase agreement for 555 First St. also gave Moravec the option to purchase the two riverfront parcels for $300,000.
However, the commission must first offer the land for sale to anyone that is interested, said Pope.
“Under Indiana law, in order to dispose of real property, there’s a general process that you have to go through,” said Bradley Bingham with Indianapolis law firm Barnes & Thornburg.
According to the approved resolution, the redevelopment commission will begin by seeking two appraisals of the riverfront property. They will then solicit bids to purchase the property at a price no less than the average of the two appraisals.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
