New bid for old hospital accepted

BOLIVIA—It may not be the first bid for the old hospital, but it is the largest one to date.

At $1.75 million, the offer from East Coast Lands One LLC is the highest one made for the 75,000-square-foot hospital facility and its 32.308 acres.

“It is more than the last offer,” said county manager Marty Lawing during Monday’s commissioners meeting.

Commissioners approved the bid. The offer was submitted on Sept. 24 by James McFarland Jr., managing member of East Coast Lands One LLC. The upset bid process restarts as the process moves forward.

“This is considered a new offer, not an upset bid. It is the only offer we have on the table at this point. It will start another upset-bid period when the deposit is paid,” Lawing told commissioners. “Katierich [a prior bidder] determined they couldn’t follow through with their offer.”

Under the terms of the contract the company will be required to pay a deposit of $87,600 within five days. The deposit will be fully refundable if certain conditions are not satisfied.

“I have no reason to believe it wouldn’t meet the requirements,” Lawing said.

Conditions outlined in the offer include completion of all satisfactory physical and environmental inspections of the property, completion of due diligence search and examinations, satisfactory review of the title of the property and more.

The initial bid asks for a closing date no later than Nov. 30, 2012. Commissioners voted to approve a revised contract with a closing date of Feb. 15, 2013.

“They do not have a specific use for the property at this point. They have several uses in mind but nothing specific,” Lawing said. “They’ve talked about educational and medical purposes but no specific purpose.”

Under the upset bid, the offer will be made public through a notice including a general description of the property, the amount and terms of the offer and a notice that within 10 days any person may raise the bid by not less than 10 percent of the first $1,000 and 5 percent of the remainder.

History

In September 2011 the old hospital on U.S. 17 in Supply reverted back to county ownership. The former 74-bed acute care hospital facility is costly for the county to maintain. It costs about $35,000 a month to keep the building operational.

Discussions to sell the property began late last year.

Initially Crown Management LLC was sole bidder at $500,000. The county didn’t accept the bid hoping to sell the facility and the land for at least $1.5 to $2.5 million.

Crown Management LLC planned to convert the former hospital into an acute-care psychiatric treatment center and residential facility. It submitted another bid for $1.5 million.

The company withdrew its $1.5 million bid in April and the county began looking into demolition options. It is estimated it would cost $300,000 for the county to demolish the facility.

In June, Crown Management resubmitted its bid and had plans to move forward with the treatment center.

In July, commissioners accepted an upset bid of $1,575,050 from Jacobs Real Estate Advisors LLC and Katierich Asset Management LLC.

A contract was never executed with the company, and it has requested return of a deposit.

Rachel Johnsonis a staff writer at The Brunswick Beacon. Reach her at 754-6890 or rjohnson@brunswickbeacon.com.