Durham Considers Acquisition of People's Bank Site For Use As Future Town Office

The former Durham branch of People’s United Bank, located at 8 Newmarket Road, has been put up for sale with a listing price of $769,000. Administrator Selig has conducted due diligence with regard to the site as a future Town Office location and has concluded that the 8 Newmarket Road location with renovations and an addition would indeed meet the space needs and functional requirements for the Town Office that were outlined in the Space Needs Assessment prepared by Sumner Davis Architects, Inc. in July 2006. To view this document, click HERE.

The bank site is a handsome colonial-style building in the midst of Durham's historic district, is in excellent condition, and is equipped with two safes that would ideally meet the Town's needs in preserving historical records.

The current Town Office has long been recognized as being deficient in a number of critical areas such as:

    Noncompliance with ADA (handicap accessibility).
    Lack of short-term and long-term temperature controlled storage space for day to day and critical historical records.
    Inadequate filing and workspace.
    Inadequate meeting space.
    Lack of security for staff and very inefficient mechanical and HVAC systems.
    Inadequate stair widths, riser and tread dimensions, and myriad other building and life safety code violations.

In order to secure the bank site to ensure the Town Council has the option of moving forward with a purchase of the property, Mr. Selig initiated negotiations with the bank. Two other parties also have placed offers for the parcel.

At this time, Mr. Selig has signed a Letter of Intent to Purchase and is awaiting approval from the seller. Per the terms of this agreement, the Town Council will have thirty (30) working days to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement and would therefore need to act on the Purchase and Sale Agreement at its meeting on May 7, 2012. At that time, a formal proposal will be presented.

Staff is working with architect Kelly Davis to develop a conceptual buildout of the bank site and estimated pricing as part of the May 7th meeting.  You may recall that Mr. Davis was engaged in 2006 to conduct the Space Needs Assessment for the Town Office faciilty.

The acquisition of the bank site is entirely predicated from the perspective of Administrator Selig on the outright sale of the existing 15 Newmarket Road Town Office location for development purposes. To this end, Mr. Selig has again initiated conversations with the owner of the Irving Station to discuss price and timing. The Irving Station owner has in the past offered the Town a premium price for the Town Office location in that it would be assimilated in with his other adjacent holdings.  We expect the receipt of a proposal shortly.

In 2008, Durham had the Town Office site appraised and at that time the most probable "as is" market value of the property, in fee simple, was $650,000 as a stand alone parcel.  At that time, the Irving Station owner had discussed paying upwards of $2,000,000 if the Town Office parcel could be integrated with his ajacent parcels and developed as a pharmacy.  That offer was just prior to the onset of the recession and the pharmacy market has changed significantly.  Today, this price would more likely be in the $1 - $1.5 million range for a pharmacy assuming all permits/approvals are granted.  For a non-pharmacy use, the value of the parcel would be significantly less.

At the Town Council meeting on Monday, April 16, 2012, the Town Council will receive a report from Administrator Selig regarding the potential acquisition of the former People's United Bank site for use as a future Town Office location. Should the bank accept the Town's offer, the Council will be asked to act on a formal Purchase and Sale Agreement at its meeting on May 7th. A site walk of the property would be scheduled prior to May 7th.