Linn County prepares to sell century-old Mott Building

Maximizing a profit might not be the top priority when it comes to the city's downtown riverfront.

That was the thought of the Linn County Board of Supervisors on Monday as it prepared to sell the Mott Building, the county-owned, 111-year-old brick building perched prominently across the Cedar River from downtown, where it once housed a windmill manufacturer and then a plumbing supply company.

The Linn County supervisors suggested that they would seek proposals from developers for the property rather than seek sealed bids as a prelude to selling the building to the highest bidder.

Supervisor Ben Rogers said he could imagine a convenience store chain submitting the highest sealed bid with an idea to tear down the Mott Building to make way for a new convenience store. However, Rogers said he has heard of other “really interesting” uses for the existing building preferable to tearing it down.

Disposing of the property via sealed bid would not allow the county to insist that the winning bidder renovate rather than demolish the building, Jeff Clark, assistant Linn County Attorney, told the supervisors.

Supervisor Brent Oleson pointed out that the Mott property is on the Cedar Rapids downtown's riverfront, which he said made it “different” than other properties. He said the city of Cedar Rapids may have some ideas about what it expects at the site and what it will and won't allow there.

“It's different, and it's historic,” Supervisor Lu Barron added of the Mott Building.

Darrin Gage, the county's director of policy and administration, said the county has had inquiries from developers interested in renovating the building for office use. Particularly attractive to developers are the lots around the building that can be used for building parking, he said.

A second county-owned building, which has been leased to Linn Star Transfer Inc., will be demolished by the county with the property included in the Mott Building sale, Gage said.

Previously, the city of Cedar Rapids purchased a county-owned parcel nearby with a Quonset hut on it, and the hut also will be demolished to make way for an eventual flood-protection berm, Gage added.

Garth Fagerbakke, the county's facilities manager, said water from the 2008 flood climbed a few feet into the first floor of the three-story Mott Building, which the county has used for storage after it purchased it in 1994 with the thought of building a new county office building on the site. That idea never moved forward.

Fagerbakke said the county pumped water out of the building after the 2008 flood, but the building otherwise is pretty much as it was then.

Even so, he called it a “very neat building” with large wooden post beams that he said made it a good candidate for renovation. He called the building structurally sound.

In early 2008, downtown developer Steve Emerson offered the county $575,000 for the old brick building and 2.2 acres around it. He wanted to remodel the building and lease it to two businesses, a woodworking shop and showroom and a professional services company like a law office or architectural firm.

The supervisors rejected the offer, hoping that one day they could sell the county's property along the river for a larger project.

The building now sits in between the city's new $8 million riverfront amphitheater project and a new city park area along Diagonal Drive SW to be connected to the amphitheater by river walk.

Linn County purchased the Mott Building and the land around it in 1994 for $390,000, the county said in 2008.

The supervisors on Monday seemed to agree with Fagerbakke that the county should donate old construction materials, doors and toilets being stored in the Mott Building to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore program for reuse. Some metal scrap may be sold, he said.

Joel Miller, the county's auditor, said the county should seek bids for items stored in the building, but Fagerbakke said he doubted that the county would make money sufficient to cover the cost of an auction or garage sale.