By Per Peterson
The Tracy Economic Development Authority last Wednesday officially opened the door for the sale of O’Brien Court.
After holding a public hearing Wednesday morning, the EDA board unanimously agreed to sell the congregate care facility for $1.2 million to OBC Properties, LLC, a group that has ties to the community. A motion to agree to sell was made by EDA member Dave Tiegs and seconded by Dennis Fultz.
“It means a lot for Tracy,” City Administrator Erik Hansen said. “I think there is some opportunity to utilize this potential revenue in a good way. In addition to that, I think it brings a good partner to town; that’s exciting.”
A purchase agreement is currently in the works, and the pending sale will eventually be brought to the Tracy City Council for final approval. The EDA, which owns the building, will sign a purchase agreement after the council authorizes the sale. Ideally, Hansen said, that will take place at the next council meeting on May 23.
The EDA owns only the building itself, not anything inside the building — items inside the building are owned by Sanford. Negotiations for those items continue between Sanford and OBC Properties.
“We’re not selling a business, we’re not selling any of the personal property,” Tracy Community Development Director Jeff Carpenter said at last week’s meeting.
The legal description of the real property is:
The Westerly Two Hundred Forty (240) feet of the following described tract: That part of the Southeast Quarter (SE¼) of the Northwest Quarter (NW¼) of Section Twenty-Four (24), Township One Hundred Nine (109) North, Range Forty (40) West, City of Tracy, Minnesota, described as follows:
Beginning at a point at the southeast corner of Lot Five (5), Block Two (2), Sunrise Addition, thence Easterly on a line parallel to the North line of State Street extended a distance of 540 feet; thence Southerly on a line parallel to the East line of Sunrise Addition, a distance of 448.3 feet; thence Westerly along the South line of the Southeast Quarter (SE¼) of the Northwest Quarter (NW¼) of Section Twenty-four (24), Township One Hundred Nine (109) North, Range Forty (40) West, a distance of 540 feet; thence Northerly along the East line of Sunrise Addition a distance of 446 feet to the point of beginning, except the North Sixty-Six (66) feet and the South Thirty-three (33) feet of the above-described real property, all being in the City of Tracy.
“We’ve been diligently working on this,” Hansen said. “We’re not across the finish line yet, but we’re certainly at the five-yard line for sure.”
In other business from last week’s meeting …
• After lengthy discussion, the EDA last week also unanimously approved the second half of the $5,000 business reward to Wheels & Heels in downtown Tracy.