When the Austin Port Authority built the 30,000 square foot Spec Building in 1994, it was with the hopes of attracting and encouraging light manufacturing – sort of an incubator.

Thursday, September 23, 1999

When the Austin Port Authority built the 30,000 square foot Spec Building in 1994, it was with the hopes of attracting and encouraging light manufacturing – sort of an incubator. However, all the building has been incubating lately is 7,500 feet of storage for two local companies – costing the city $65,000 a year in debt service it wasn’t recovering from rent.

In July, one PA member called the building a "million dollar pole shed."

All that may change very soon.

Wednesday afternoon Austin Port Authority members voted unanimously to approve the concept of a deal with the Joseph Company involving the sale of the Spec Building and surrounding land (approximately 4 acres) in exchange for $430,000 plus the Joseph Company’s 6.6 acres and buildings on the north side of 18th Ave. NW.

Project manager Carter Wagner told the city he would prefer the closing occur by Dec. 1.

"I think it’s a win-win for everyone," city administrator Pat McGarvey said. "The Joseph Company would need almost half of the space in the Spec building, plus they could continue to lease out the storage area to Mower House and Web Graphics. It would also give the city land to develop and sell by 18th Avenue, with possibly 1 1/2 acres to go to the Cooperative Response Center."

The PA voted at the same meeting to extend an offer to the CRC to relocate on one or two acres of the 18th Ave. NW land, provided the deal with Joseph goes through and the CRC is interested. Currently located at the intersection of Interstate 90 and Minnesota Highway 56, CRC – which serves to link rural residents with emergency services – has expressed an interest in relocating. McGarvey said if CRC chose to relocate into Austin, the city would offer tax increment financing on the lot and improvements based on the taxes the company would pay after improvements were complete.

"Any financing would be contingent on CRC coming up with a down payment," McGarvey said. "They’re looking at probably a 7-8,000 square-foot building to start with."

Although the deal was approved unanimously by the five of eight PA members present, McGarvey stressed that closing documents were weeks away.

In other business at Tuesday’s Port Authority meeting, members approved the offer to purchase the old Wold Drugstore/Ertl’s Toys building on the corner of Main Street and 2nd Ave. NE. The city had already made an offer of $65,000 on the building. Although no paperwork has been exchanged, McGarvey said he understood from the realtor that the offer had been accepted by the owners. The purchase will likely be on the next Austin City Council agenda, as it will be paid for by funds from Tax Increment Financing district No. 10.

McGarvey said he thought the city would look for a private developer to buy the building – on the condition that the developer would restore the historic building to what it once was, at least on the outside.

"We’d like to see it brought back to its original look," McGarvey said.