LACONIA — A legislative maneuver to potentially fast-track any sale of the old Laconia State School property might be beneficial from a development point of view. But it also skirts a system of checks and balances that are woven into a multi-step state process that is meant to ensure that any agreement protects the public at large.
A bill attached to Gov. Chris Sununu’s 2022-23 budget would give Sununu and the Executive Council the unrestricted ability to dispose of the property, whether by sale, lease, or other means. Moreover, the language in the bill would exempt the council from adhering to any other existing state law regarding the disposition of state property.
The law requires the state go through a seven-step process before it can sell any property, a procedure that takes months, and often more than a year, according to Michael Connor, an administrator with the state’s Department of Administrative Services which manages all state property not assigned to a specific agency.
“The purpose is to make sure the state is getting good value (in the transaction), that any deal is being looked at by a lot of people, and that everyone’s interest is being taken to heart and not just a vested interest,” Connor said.
“That process takes a lot of time. It’s meant to be that way,” said George Bald, who chairs the Lakeshore Regional Planning Commission which is working to prepare the 250-acre State School site so it can be marketed to one or more private developers. “We would hope for a way that’s a bit quicker.”
The first step in the normal process would be for the property to be declared surplus, Connor said.
Then the Department of Administrative Services would confer with the Department of Historical Resources, which could defer the sale, limit its scope, and/or put restrictions on its sale or use.
Once a proposed sale is cleared by Historical Resources, Administrative Services would obtain an appraisal for the property. When the appraisal is submitted, the agency would hire a broker to market the property for sale.
Once an offer is received that is within market value, DAS would submit a request to the Council on Resources and Economic Development (CORD) to sell or transfer the property. After reviewing the offer, the council then submits its recommendation to the Long Range Capital Planning and Utilization Committee, a panel made up of four members each from the state Senate and House of Representatives, and a representative of the governor’s office.
If the committee gives its blessing to the sale, the matter is then turned over to the Executive Council which has the final say. But even before the Executive Council can consummate a sale to a private party, it must first offer the real estate at market price to whichever city or town the property is located in.
The State School property has already gone through part of that process once, and legislation passed in 2011 required the state to offer the parcel to the city of Laconia for $10 million. The city declined and made a counter-offer of $2.16 million, but the legislation contained no provision for the state to accept a counter-offer. Instead, the state offered it to Belknap County for $1.76 million, and the county declined.
The state tried multiple times since then to market the property – always unsuccessfully – until the Lakeshore Regional Planning Commission that Bald chairs was created by legislation in 2017. The commission last year proposed creating a development authority with the power to issue $5 million in state guaranteed bonds to pursue the development at the site, but that was vetoed by Gov. Chris Sununu.
The sale of state property that involves both land and buildings is infrequent, said Connor, who has worked in state government for 40 years.
“The state keeps its buildings for a long time,” he said. “The sale of state property is not a common event.”
He called the State School property a “unique case” because it involves a large amount of land and a complex of buildings that the state no longer has a feasible use for because the property is located away from Concord, where most state government operations are based.
When the state moves to sell property, the process takes time. Some sales have taken between two and three years to complete.
“There are lots of checks and balances,” Connor said.
In the case of the Laconia State School property, Connor said the process could possibly be completed in as little as one year, but allowed as to how it might take up to two years.
Bald says timing is critical in the world of real estate development.
“When both sides agree, you and them want to move forward quickly,” he said. “You don’t want to take 12 months to effectuate a sale.”
The purpose of the seven-member commission, Bald said, is to market the property for uses that will create jobs, generate tax revenue for the city of Laconia and the state, and produce a development that will be “a source of pride.”
The sooner the State School land can be sold to one or more private developers whose plans will help achieve those goals, the better, Bald said.
Bald said he believes the process can be expedited while at the same time ensuring there is plenty of public notification about the details of the projects, including the prospective buyers.
“You want to get something going, so people will see this is a real project,” Bald said. “We’re not land-banking.”
March 18, 2021 at 09:33PM
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State School bill would skirt oversight | Local News | laconiadailysun.com - The Laconia Daily Sun
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