Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary is angling to see the city buy, use and then resell a prominent pair of downtown office and retail buildings.
O’Leary is proposing the city pay $4.47 million for the 62,690-square-foot, six-story building at 21 West Main St., and the attached two-story, 23,034-square-foot building at 24-30 Bank St.
Carved into eight condos with seven owners, O’Leary said the buildings have suffered from lack of investment and maintenance and are now about 74% vacant. According to the city, several owners owe a combined $811,102 in back property taxes as of Sept. 18.
The problem, O’Leary said, is people were unwilling to buy into the buildings due to uncertainty if other owners would properly maintain their spaces. It led to a slow deterioration of the building and a slide in tenancy.
“We took a tour of the building, and I was alarmed at the conditions,” O’Leary said. “The building is beautiful but there is no preventative maintenance. It hasn’t been done in some cases for years.”
The city is queued up to receive a $7 million state grant through the state Bond Commission on Friday, the proceeds of which would be used to buy out the various owners of the two buildings and renovate the structures.
O’Leary said he has two lucrative, long-term office tenants interested in leasing spaces in the buildings. The balance of space would be used to temporarily house city departments that will shortly vacate the nearby Chase Municipal Building ahead of a multimillion-dollar renovation of that city building.
Ultimately, O’Leary said, the plan is to sell the two properties either together or individually, but as wholly owned structures, not condos. O’Leary said the city has an interested buyer lined up for one building.
“We feel this is the only way we can make this a viable piece of property again,” O’Leary said.
