In the city in which I live there is a municipal property that is abandonded and not used for much of anything. There have been a number of municipal reports citing that the property is an excess asset that the city has no use for. So I’m wondering how diffiicult it might be to make an unsolicited offer on the site? I’m thinking that its probably not possible because government assets probably have to go through a complicated bureaucratic transparent public bidding process, but thats just a guess. I think that North American standards will be quite comparable so anyone with insights from their local city/town could perhaps help me. Do cities ever accept unsolicited offers on their real estate? If not, how do I start the process of having the city accept bids?
This is a classic “it depends” question. Disposing of municipal property is not merely an issue that varies according to municipal codes, but also according to state laws.
In very general terms, however, you should just go down to City Hall and ask to be sent to the right office. You’ll soon find whether the city has any real intent of selling the property and what the proper procedures are if so. And you’ll also find out whether there are other factors you need to take into account: hazardous materials, landmark status, community group protests, etc.
Asking a blind question about an unnamed city and a unspecified property really won’t get you very far.
Exapno: Its a simple question, do any cities ever accept unsolicited offers (without bidding process) on real estate or is that totally unheard of.
I see you’re new here.
There really are no simple questions. Nor simple answers.
Welcome to the Dope, and to life. The ice machine is on the 3rd floor, if you need fresh linens or towels dial 9 for room service.
Enjoy your stay.
Here’s a simple answer: go to City Hall and ask them.
Disposition of excess municipal property is always governed by state statute detailing how it is declared excess and how it is to be sold for the greatest public benefit (generally but not always meaning the most income to the municipality). In a few states, the state statute provides that the process is left to the individual municipality, but in most, there are state procedures that they must follow.
There may also be historic preservation rules in play: an old City Hall may be an architecturally valuable property that must be preserved essentially “as is” and restored according to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation, to be used for any other purpose.
That’s as clear an answer as can be given without a location identified. Someone could route you to the Indiana or South Dakota state rules for disposition of excess municipal property if we knew what state, to whether or not the city hall in question is on the National or State Register of Historic Places, and so on.
But what you’re asking is the equivalent of, “I have this white powder in a box in the kitchen. If I eat it, will it hurt me?” and the answer depends on whether the box says “confectioner’s sugar” or “drain cleaner” which you haven’t specified. State laws and local provisions vary greatly. For example, in New York if you want to buy an abandoned city park, the municipality cannot decide to sell it to you; it takes an act of the State Legislature, because the municipality is holding the park land in trust for the public, and only the legislature can alienate that land from public park use. The city can refuse to maintain it, fence it off – but cannot sell it.
Exapno is on the right track. A non-profit organization I’m associatedd with arragned the purchase of a former police impound garage - they purchased it from the city for $1. I was involved in the negotiations, and I’m sure that there was a lot of red tape to go through. The fact that it was purchased by a non-profit (and not an individual) probably helped as well. But there’s at least one case where it can be done.
Just like anything else, if you see something you want to buy, find the owner and make them an offer.
Of course, it also depends on whether or not the city knows it owns the building.
I’m not joking; it’s not uncommon for municipal governments to simply lose track of the ownership status of its own properties. A few years back the City of Toronto was found to have variances between what it thought it owned and what it really did own in the order of dozens of properties and tens of millions of dollars. Granting that Toronto is unusually large for a single municipal government, you will find similar problems in most cities. As one person in municipal government once told me; “The people who weren’t smart enough to be federal politicians became provincial politicians. The people who weren’t smart enough to be provincial politicians became municipal politicians.”
Dealing with such things will always be more of a political transaction as a commercial one; any attempt to sell public property to a private intest will be opposed by someone or other (actually, any attempt by a city to do almost anything will be opposed by someone or other.)
The rest of your post is spot-on but I’m going to nitpick this because of personal history.
Cities in NYS only have to have legislative approval to sell dedicated parkland, i.e. parkland that had been dedicated as parkland by an act of the legislature. Not all city parkland is dedicated.
I know this because it was once my project to go through the complete history of every piece of parkland (107, IIRC) in the city to determine its dedication status. Lots of research in the very earliest city council records ensued. Fascinating in a way. For a while. Made a nice thick presentation binder. 
This is the link to the City of L.A. office that handles the sale of excess property:
http://www.lacity.org/GSD/asset.htm
There are periodic auctions and right now there isn’t anything up for sale. But I’ve seen fire stations and libraries for sale. Granted they’re empty. But the land is still worth a lot.
The City of L.A. about 13 years ago toyed with the idea of selling its Central Library to a private company and then leasing it back to save money. However, the private company was going to be Phillip Morris, so the public didn’t much care for that and the idea was quickly scrapped.
Good thread. I recntly wanted to LEASE an old building owned by my city. i went to city hall, and found out that NOBODY knew the status of the building-it was an old firehouse, which had been used as the city animal shelter. I went back several times, and got no good answers to any of my questions. I eventually gave up-I suspect that the property is being eyed by some city hacks who want to buy and resell it.
A non-profit org I belong to leases a small firehouse from the town. Twenty year lease. $1 a year I think. We put $20,000 or so into repairs, roof, interior finishing, etc. And we’re resposible for the utilities, but I think the town insures the building.
My company did a deal that involved a contractor buying a piece of City-owned vacant land and building four townhouses on it. We had to petition the City and go before the Planning Board and the Building Dept. before the deal was accepted. Then we had to petition everyone in a 100,000 foot radius of the property to get approval.
It took about six months.
In Chicago, it’s clear that parts of City Hall have been for sale for years and years. Read the papers.
Why does the evil part of me want to set up shop in a building like that and then claim to own it…
Yes.
http://www.townshipofsevern.com/bylaws/1995-99.pdf (pdf)
http://legistar.milwaukee.gov/detailreport/Reports/Temp/4132006131759.pdf (pdf) (Milwaukee, WI)
Gfactor: Thats awesome, thank you!