No offers were made Wednesday to purchase a vacant property the city of Urbana is trying to acquire for redevelopment purposes.
During a sheriff’s sale held in the Champaign County Common Pleas Court, no bids were made to purchase the former Q3 JMC Inc. property, 605 Miami St. The minimum bid for the property was $268,379.30.
The sheriff’s sale was held a little less than a month after city officials were informed by the Champaign County Prosecutor’s Office during a Champaign County Board of Revisions meeting on Aug. 4 that an expedited foreclosure that would transfer the property to the city was not possible.
Champaign County Prosecutor Kevin Talebi stated during the meeting that because the Champaign County auditor’s valuation of the property, over $900,000, was so high in relation to the taxes owed meant the board could not perform an expedited foreclosure.
Prior to Wednesday’s sheriff’s sale, Urbana City Council approved an ordinance authorizing Urbana Director of Administration Kerry Brugger to submit a request to the Champaign County Board of Revisions to transfer the 26 parcels listed in the property to the city to facilitate re-utilization of the nonproductive land.
The board will hold a meeting today to discuss the city’s request to have all taxes on the property waived to allow the city to take control of the property.
Vacant since 2008, the property has caused a number of issues for the city forcing it to use nuisance abatement, police monitoring due to theft and receiving trespassing complaints, and has also caused fire and utility concerns due to water line leaks or breaks and a non-operational fire suppression system.
In addition to these public health and safety concerns, the city’s environmental investigations of the property showed the property has significant areas of soil and ground water contamination.
The ordinance passed on Tuesday states that subject to the city completing the environmental remediation and demolition on the property, potential end users have been identified and have indicated a willingness to create 130 new full-time jobs following the redevelopment of the property.
