A significant and controversial portion of downtown Oxford’s northeast parking quadrant could be getting a new owner soon.
On July 14, the Leader learned a sale is pending on two parcels ? a total of about 28,086 square feet located in the heart of the northeast quadrant ? containing roughly 56 parking spaces and a loading zone, all of which serve the downtown businesses located there.
The property in question is also the main traffic artery between the parking lot’s northern (East Street) and southern (E. Burdick Street) access points.
The property’s current owner Nathan Grove confirmed last week he and Bob Knauf, an Oxford businessman and real estate investor, have ‘a purchase agreement in place? for the parcels for an undisclosed amount.
Grove said he’s selling the property to raise capital for another real estate deal he has in the works.
Orange construction barrels, barricades and yellow caution tape roped off the area beginning July 14 as environmental testing began on the site.
The Holt-based environmental services firm Fibertec commenced drilling for soil samples on the property.
On Monday, Knauf said he and Grove are having environmental testing done on the property, but he would not confirm whether there is a purchase agreement in place or for how much.
‘I’m not going to confirm anything,? he said.
Knauf referred this reporter to his son, local attorney Lee Knauf, who’s representing both the Groves? and his father’s interests relating to the northeast quadrant lot.
‘I’d rather not say. It’s private,? was Lee Knauf’s response when asked about the pending sale.
However, according to reliable sources within the village, Knauf has approached the Oxford DDA about the possibility of him swapping the northeast quadrant property ? should he purchase it ? for the 75-foot-wide village-owned right-of-way (or alley) which directly abuts the property he owns at 90 S. Washington Street between Broadway and Ensley streets.
Upon Knauf’s Washington Street property sits the vacant building which formerly housed the Community Insurance Center. Village sources said the proposed swap relates to Knauf’s future plans for that site.
Knauf would neither confirm nor deny this proposed swap with the village.
The right-of-way is located behind Knauf’s property to the east and village sources say he’s possibly proposing a trade for the entire length of it from Broadway to Ensley and a portion (not all) of the 75-foot width.
Oxford’s DDA recently had the approximately 27,068-square-foot right-of-way appraised at $541,360 ($20 per square foot).
The DDA also had an appraisal done on the Grove’s two parcels. The approximately 23,086-square-foot parcel was appraised at $461,720 ($20 per square foot). The approximately 5,000-square-foot parcel was appraised at $100,000 ($20 per square foot).
At last night’s village planning commission meeting, Manager Joe Young told officials that DDA representatives have ‘a meeting set with the prospective purchaser (of the Grove property) on the appraisals which the DDA just received Friday. He’s looking at possibly some trade for property as part of a package deal.?
The two northeast quadrant parcels Knauf is looking to purchase and possibly trade have been at the center of a three-year-old legal battle between the Grove family, which owns Oxford Ace Hardware, and Oxford Village.
The village is currently appealing a 2004 Oakland County Circuit Court ruling in which Judge Fred Mester found that the village ‘abused its discretion? when it determined free public parking to be a necessity and used that as the basis for attempting to condemn the Groves? northeast quadrant property.
On Friday, Manager Young indicated the village intends to continue its appeal despite news of the possible ownership change.
A condemnation proceeding to acquire the property was instituted by the village in July 2002 after unsuccessful negotiations between the municipality and Groves.
A 1974 lease agreement had allowed the village to use the property for free public parking with the understanding that the municipality would maintain, pave, sweep, plow and insure the parcels. In exchange, the Grove family received $1 per year in rent and paid no property taxes on the land.
In September 2001, the Groves notified the village they wished to alter the agreement when the lease expired Jan. 1, 2002. The family wanted to begin charging the village $4,000 per month in rent for 20 years with an annual 3 percent increase for inflation.
In February 2002, the Groves told village officials if they weren’t interested in a new lease, they would convert their property into a pay-to-park lot.
The village rejected the new lease offer citing excessive cost as the reason and in March 2002, offered to purchase the property for either $170,000 cash ? a value determined by an village-hired appraiser ? or the same amount with $10,000 down and the rest to be paid off over a 15-year period at a 7 percent interest rate.
The Groves rejected the offer claiming the value of the land combined with the potential value of a pay-to-park business meant the property was worth between $1 million and $1.3 million.
Fearing the lot would become pay-to-park or be developed into something and either way potentially hurt downtown businesses and impede traffic flow through that quadrant, the village went to court to have it condemned and converted into public property.