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Fire Station #6, 204 Melba Street was recently decommissioned after the opening of the new East Side Fire Station.
The City of Milford is offering the property for sale and will be accepting sealed bids in the Office of the City Attorney, 110 River Street, Milford, CT 06460 until noon on Friday, Nov. 21.
Bids must be accompanied by a deposit in the form of certified or bank check payable to the City of Milford in the amount of 10% of the total bid. The property is located in a BD Zone and consists of land totaling approximately one half acre.
Anyone interested in placing a bid may find the bidding instructions on the city’s website at ci.milford.ct.us located under the Purchasing Department. (Click here to get directly to the document)
The city tried to auction the firehouse in May but no one showed up to bid.
A couple of people who toured the old Station 6 Firehouse said they thought the starting bid of $477,000 was a bit high and it kept them from entertaining any serious thoughts about bidding.
In October the Board of Aldermen approved a plan to try selling the building again, this time with no minimum bid.
“This time it will be a sealed bid without a floor,” Mayor Ben Blake said. “But the caveat is that the winning bid will have to be approved by this board. So you will see this again.”
Mike Papper, who lives in the condominiums next door to the firehouse, was at the auction in May and he said he could have pictured the building housing a small brewery, with offices and living space upstairs.
He would have considered bidding, “if the price was right,” and for him that might have been somewhere in the two hundred thousands, especially if he was looking at the firehouse for an investment property.
David Kuehn looked around the building in May too, really out of curiosity because he lives in the old Spring Street Firehouse in Devon, which he bought at a city auction about 10 years ago.
The starting bid on that property was lower, and he got it for $160,000. Then he put in a kitchen and bathroom and turned it into a house.
With 2,000 square feet, it's spacious, and that's what he likes about living in an old converted firehouse. “It's big, it has high ceilings and big rooms,” Kuehn said. “And I like the fact that it was a firehouse.”
The Melba Street firehouse would need a lot of work, he said, to turn it into a home or business, and that's why he thinks the starting bid should have been lower.
Still, he liked the space and the structure.
“I'd hate to see someone buy it and knock it down,” he said.
Mayor Blake said the city assessor set the starting bid based on the market value of the building and property.
“But the market dictates the sale,” Blake said in May, “and this was a little steeper than the market would bear.”
The following instructions are posted on the city website. (Click here to go directly to the site)
REQUEST FOR SEALED BIDS
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS SALE OF CITY PROPERTY
204 Melba Street Map 38, Block 542, Parcel 1
The property for sale consists of a piece of land totaling approximately 20,000 square feet, more or less, located at 204 Melba Street, and acquired by the City of Milford on May 24, 1944. A legal description of the property can be located at Volume 279, Page 419 of the Milford Land Records. The property is located in a BD, Business District Zone. Specific information regarding zoning requirements should be found in the Zoning Regulations of the Planning & Zoning Board. Said property is subject to the following:
• Building lines, if established, all laws, ordinances, governmental regulations, including building and zoning ordinances affecting said premises,
• Any structure to be constructed on the premises must comply with the City of Milford zoning and building regulations.
• Such state of facts as would be disclosed by a current, accurate survey and physical inspection of the premises. • Any and all covenants, easements, restrictions, rights of way, caveats, agreements, permits, variances and
declarations as of record may appear.
• A right of way in favor of The Point Beach Volunteer Fire Co. No. 6 of Milford, Incorporated solely for the purpose of ingress and egress of said volunteer engine company’s fire truck.
Property is to be conveyed by Statutory Quit Claim Deed and in "as is" condition. The City does not make any representations of warranties regarding the physical condition of the premises.
The City of Milford reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids or any part thereof for any reason, or to waive defects in same as may be in the best interests of the City.
No warranties or representations are made by the City regarding the ability of any purchaser to obtain zoning approvals, Sewer Commission approval, Health Department approval or Building Department approval to develop this property or to build on this property.
Further, the City makes no guarantee or warranty of any use or possible use of the land.
- end of specifications -
INSTRUCTIONS
If you download bid packages from the City website at www.ci.milford.ct.us it is your responsibility to ensure that you have current information. Click on the “Changes in Bids” icon for any applicable addenda prior to the date of public auction.
The City is not responsible for data or transmission errors.
Bidders must satisfy themselves by personal examination of the location of the property and by whatever other lawful means as they may wish as to the actual conditions and requirements of the specifications.
Sealed bids must be provided to the office of the City Attorney, 110 River Street, Milford, not later than 12:00 P.M. on Friday, November, 21, 2014. Closing shall occur on or before December 31, 2014. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Bids shall be accompanied by a deposit in the form of a certified of bank check payable to the City of Milford in the amount of 10% of the total bid.
Final bid may be subject to Board of Alderman approval.
The successful bidder must be prepared to sign a sales contract within five (5) days of notice of award of bid and to pay the balance of the purchase price no later than December 31, 2014, TIME BEING OF THE ESSENCE. Upon award of the bid, the deposit of the successful bidder shall become non-refundable.
The property is being sold “as-is”, subject to no contingencies whatsoever and without any adjustments. The City of Milford and/or its representatives makes no warranties, either express or implied, concerning the property’s condition, and no adjustments will be made for any defects that may be discovered after this date. The City of Milford and/or its representatives makes no representations of any kind as to the environmental condition of the property. All bids are to be made based on the bidder’s own information and knowledge of the property, learned through his or her own efforts, and not on any representation or comments made by the City of Milford and/or its representatives.
The City of Milford reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids or any part thereof for any reason, or to waive defects in same as may be in the best interests of the City.
Successful bidder shall not have the right to assign any rights he may have to purchase said property without the written consent of the City of Milford. Conveyance will be by statutory form of quit claim deed. City will provide completed real estate conveyance tax return certifying that transfer is tax exempt.
Successful bidder will be required to obtain his/her own title search of the property. The City does not warrant title and will not provide or sign title affidavits. Successful bidder will be required to obtain his/her own certificate of zoning compliance for the property.
Questions may be directed to the Office of the City Attorney, 110 River Street, Milford, CT 06460, Telephone (203) 783-3250, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily.