With hopes of bringing close to $2.5 million into the township, the Voorhees Township committee took the first steps to ensure the former Voorhees municipal building is sold for its appraised value after the committee passed a resolution to send out a request for proposals (RFP) for a qualified property broker at the Nov. 12 meeting.
According to the resolution, the township will soon put out an RFP, requesting bids from “a qualified commercial real estate brokerage firm with experience in marketing and conducting municipal auctions pursuant to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 40A:12–13.”
After the township municipal building was moved to Voorhees Town Center in September of 2011, township administrator Lawrence Spellman said that the property was put out to bid in July of 2013, but found that there were no qualified bidders for the property.
“We kept going back and forth with the bid for a while,” Spellman said in regards to the initial bid.
At the time, Spellman said the township was looking to sell the property, located at 620 Berlin Rd., for its appraised value of approximately $2.5 million dollars.
Originally setting the minimum bid to $2.25 million, the committee voted to amend the minimum bid to $2.5 million at the June 24 meeting after including Kerper Lane into the sale.
“What our professionals have told us is that we need somebody who has the ability to adequately market the property,” Spellman said.
He explained that since the property initially went out to bid, he has seen similar properties within the township sell for close to that of former municipal building’s appraised worth, including the property that formerly housed Fuddruckers.
Moving to Voorhees Town Center cost the township approximately $5.8 million, which is hoped to be closer to $3.4 million after the sale of the old property.
“We’re looking to get that money for the township,” Spellman said.
Spellman said with the help of the broker the property can be promoted on commercial markets, helping to improve the township’s chances of selling the property for its appraised value.
Following the meeting, Spellman added that the RFP would go out by the end of the week. He added that though most RFP’s close after three weeks, there is a probability that the RFP will close later, due to the holidays.
In other news…
-The first reading of an ordinance to amend the name of Oak Avenue, located off of Burnt Mill Road was passed unanimously by the committee. Spellman explained after the meeting that the ordinance came about after it was discovered by an assessor that there were two Oak Avenues in the township of Voorhees. He added that since the avenue located, in the Kirkwood section of the township, is currently undeveloped the township decided that it would be best to rename the street to avoid any possible confusion. If the ordinance is adopted, the street will be renamed Ash Avenue.
-The township committee voted unanimously to enter into a shared service agreement with the borough of Berlin for their participation in an automated license plate recognition system. The shared service agreement authorized Berlin’s use of the data server, which hosts the program.
