City unloads property to neighbor above value

City Hall has had a victory in its effort to unload surplus city property.

Valued at $60,000, a 5.4-acre parcel of woods with access problems north of Mount Vernon Road SE has sold for $80,101.

Two neighbors adjacent to the parcel - both medical doctors - submitted a sealed bid for the city-owned property.

Dr. Scott Nau and his wife, Gail, 5201 Broadview Dr. SE, had the winning bid of $80,101, besting a bid of $75,000 from Dr. Robert Brimmer and his wife, Jacqueline, 5219 Broadlawn Dr. SE. The bids were opened Dec. 20 at the city's Public Works Department with both bidders present, Carol Morgan, the city's real estate disposition coordinator, reported on Tuesday.

Morgan said she understood that both bidders intended to preserve the integrity of the timber on the parcel if they won the bid.

“I think everyone is satisfied with the outcome,” she said.

In July, Morgan succeeded in selling a homebuilder on two, surprisingly hard-to-sell, city-owned lots that back up to the Ellis Golf Course. The city got $25,000 for each lot.

The city next hopes to unload city-owned property at the corner of Williams Boulevard and 16th Avenue SW that once housed an Iowa Department of Transportation license station. The property is valued in excess of $500,000.

Morgan also thinks city-owned property at Memorial Drive and Spruce Avenue SE will make a nice spot for two or three new homes. She has said the city has owned the parcel for a century and has said she thinks it was purchased for a smallpox hospital that was never built.