Port of Grapeview putting property up for sale

Grapeview can set a minimum price of $100,000

Kirk Boxleitner | Mar 24, 20220

The Port of Grapeview agreed to put property up for sale for a minimum price of $100,000 after a public hearing at the port’s March 15 meeting didn’t draw any negative reactions.

The 1.74-acre parcel designated as 12108-21-90041 is zoned commercial residential and sits on Grapeview Loop Road on the corner of Okonek Road.

It was previously part of the port’s industrial development district before the port commissioners unanimously voted to remove it from the district March 15.

The removal of property from the industrial district required commissioners to amend the port’s comprehensive scheme of harbor improvement, which they unanimously approved that evening.

Commissioner Jean Farmer, representing the Fair Harbor area, appointed a committee to facilitate the process, headed by Commissioner Mike Blaisdell, representing Stretch Island and South Sound.

Committee member Walter Clayton reviewed the two ways the Okonek property could have been sold, both of which started with removing the property from the port’s industrial district.

One method requires two appraisals. Clayton noted the appraisals could be conducted by certified appraisers, real estate brokers or both.

That method would require the port to supply a plan for the use and specifications of the property’s development, “which would essentially run with the land, and could have the effect of depressing the value of the land.”

The other method takes advantage of state laws allowing the port to amend its comprehensive scheme to declare the property surplus, which Clayton noted the Port of Grapeview had already done.

According to Clayton, the port can then authorize the sale, “after notice of this meeting that we’re having,” and sell it free of any appraisals, so that the individual or party to purchase it “can do with the property whatever the county may allow under its zoning regulations.”

Clayton added, “It’s a fairly simple, straightforward sale of property.”

Fellow committee member Bob Pastore clarified that appraisals of the land are required only if the property is being put up for competitive bid, “which you are not doing.”

And yet, even though the port is not required to obtain an appraisal or Realtor market report, it obtained both.

“Even though we don’t have to do it, we did it,” Pastore said, saying Mike Southerland, a Realtor and area resident, completed a market report on the property in August.

“The county appraiser has also made an appraisal of the property, and they are certified appraisers,” Pastore said, before adding, “Walter and I are charter members of the SPAC (Strategic Planning Advisory Committee), which was established in 2015 to amend the comprehensive scheme, and we want to salute Phil Wolff, because the 2009 comp scheme was done spectacularly.”

Although Wolff clarified he does not live in the port district, he does own property there and has an annual pass for use of the port facilities.

“You don’t have to live in the district,” Pastore said. “You just have to be a taxpayer here.”

By putting the property up for sale by the owner, the port can set a minimum price of $100,000 for the parcel and tell prospective buyers to “be prepared to offer your best, highest offer,” Farmer said.

The port has engaged Southerland to handle the transaction and Land Title of Shelton to be the escrow agent.

Farmer said Southerland would be in contact with those who expressed interest in the property.