At the Sustainability, Housing, Efficiency, and Neighborhoods Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, June 20, plans were made to dispose of excess property in the city of Phoenix.
“In all, we have reviewed just shy of 5,500 parcels, including everything from mountain parks to fire stations to office buildings,” said Management Assistant, Tim McBride. “As a result of this process, departments have identified 655 parcels to be excessed.” According to the meeting agenda, representatives from multiple departments have been working since 2016 to “streamline property disposal decisions and move quickly to City Council with specific recommendations.”
Tim McBride said, “For these properties, the goal is to dispose of them and put them into productive use for the community.” According to Tim McBride, since 2014, 179 parcels have been disposed of over the past three years bringing in a total of $24 million. A major tool aiding in the sales of these properties is the new properties for sale website. According to Tim McBride, the website brings in 100 visitors per day with the site being launched in early March.
“The finance department is in the process of developing a qualified vendor list of brokers and this list should be ready by the fall,” said Tim McBride. According to the meeting agenda, there are currently 438 vacant parcels that are deemed excess, listed for sale, leased, or to be dedicated. “This leaves us will 62 remaining parcels and over the summer, the property review team will confirm the need for these parcels,” said Tim McBride. “These will be used for future fire stations, libraries, parks and water facilities that will be needed as the city continues to grow.”
“The intention is to conclude the work on these 62 parcels and come back to you at a fall meeting, at which point we would discuss the 62 parcels and the progress to date,” said Deputy Director, Paul Blue. “We’re very focused on how do we get to solutions that help real estate become productive in the neighborhoods and the community at large.” The finance department, as well as other city departments, will continue to analyze these vacant parcels to come up with the best plan of action.
“ASU is going to start a major planning process for land that they’re developing in partnership with the city on the biomedical campus, to me that’s one of the most strategic things we’ve done with our city land holdings,” said Councilwoman Kate Gallego. “We’ve made significant progress on this campus…now with more than a billion dollar economic impact, there are definitely things to celebrate in this area.”
According to the meeting agenda, the Property Review Team will continue to provide monthly updates to the Subcommittee to report on disposed parcels and sales. According to the meeting agenda, the next step is to focus on developing processes for ongoing administration, maintenance and the review of parcels. Specifically, the team will look at legal requirements, property maintenance plans, strategic acquisition of properties and metrics related to the marketing and sales of excess properties.