By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Voorhees Sun
Several businesses have already shown interest in purchasing the piece of property where the township hall is located, Administrator Larry Spellman said last week. The property will be available if the Township Committee approves a plan that would move the town hall to the Voorhees Town Center.
The property was appraised at about $2.5 million, Spellman said, and the businesses that have contacted the township have stated that this is a fair price for the land.
If the township is able to sell the land for the stated appraisal price, Spellman said it would make the move to the Town Center much easier.
“We’ve had a few businesses contact us about buying our property. It was appraised at $2.5 million. The businesses are saying $2.5 million is a fair number,” he said. “People have known we’ve been looking to move for about two years. The rumor was out there, and it’s not like we’re doing this at the last minute, so people have known.”
The total cost of the project will likely be about $6.1 million, he said. The proceeds of the sale of the existing property combined with the new tax revenue generated will cover the cost of the project with no local tax increase for the project.
Spellman said the total cost of the project might actually come down if the township can purchase the property from the mall for a lower price. It was determined a few years ago, he said, that the township could purchase the property for $3 million. With the real estate market down, Spellman said the township may be able to purchase the property for even less.
“We’ve been saying that $6 million is needed to move our entire town hall there. Part of the $6 million is the purchase of the land, the other part is getting that part of the mall built to our specifications, such as furnishings, AV and security needs,” he said. “If the cost to retrofit comes in lower than our estimate, a couple hundred thousand dollars for example, and we do get $2.5 million for the town hall property, we’ll have a little extra in the bond in case we need it. “
Another boon for the township is the advantageous interest rates for bonds right now, Spellman said. When the township was looking at the idea several years ago, interest rates for bonds were about 5 percent. Now, the township would be paying an interest rate lower than 4 percent, he said.
Spellman said it would cost about the same amount of money to repair the current town hall and make it workable for township employees as it is to move to the Town Center. An architect gave an assessment of $6 million to bring the town hall up to specifications, Spellman said, and that didn’t include replacing water damaged furniture, new roofs, and computers currently at the complex.
“Reminding all of us about the situation we have here, the last few rainstorms these past weeks have just killed us. Our basement has flooded and the trailer has several leaks,” he said.
Previously Joseph Coradino, president of services for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, said the new project will create 85 temporary construction jobs and an unknown amount of permanent jobs. It’s the type of project, he said, that will help draw new commercial businesses to the Town Center. It should also bring in more visitors to the Town Center as well, he said, improving on the 3,000 visitors a month average from 2009.
PREIT owns the Town Center.
The Committee will vote on the plan on second reading at the Aug. 9 committee meeting.
In other township news:
Voorhees Township received two grants of $25,000 each for various improvements for the Rabinowitz Little League field and the girls softball complex.
Spellman said the grant for the Little League will be used to repair the infield, while the grant for the girls complex will go towards installing new lights for the field.
Hopefully the improvements will start in the fall so they will be ready for next year’s season, Spellman said.
