RUMFORD – Selectmen have put off awarding the contract for the purchase of Abbott Farm Plaza until Thursday.
At a special board meeting Monday afternoon, selectmen opened bids by two potential developers, including one who’d failed to meet requirements for purchase of the property in January.
Peter Hatzis, a Massachusetts businessman who is represented by Riverside Realty in Mexico, offered the minimum bid of $200,000 for the former shopping center complex and 8 acres located a couple of miles west of town along Route 2. Earlier this year, Hatzis, who also owns the so-called Buccina block on Congress Street, had offered $220,000 for the complex and all 78 acres surrounding it. However, the deal fell through when he was unable to nail down two anchor tenants by the board-mandated date.
In his latest bid, he did not include plans for job creation. Hatzis wrote in his bid that his offer is good through Friday. He also asked the town to absorb the $20,000 real estate agent’s fee.
The second bidder, Strategic Retail Advisors of Framingham, Mass., also offered $200,000 for the buildings and 8 acres.
Its proposal includes plans to create about 150 retail jobs, based on 12 to 16 jobs per 1,000 square feet of retail space, and about 100 temporary jobs while the complex undergoes renovation.
SRA, which is represented by Wise Properties in Portland, wants the town to assess property taxes at the sale price rather than at the $2.4 million assessed value. It also is asking for the right to sell the property in less than the three years stipulated by the town if a major tenant occupies a substantial portion of the building complex. Among the requirements set by the town is the right of the town to buy back the property at the sale price within three years if it goes on the market.
Town Manager Steve Eldridge said issues raised by the bidders and the town will be discussed and negotiated at a special meeting tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Town lawyer Jennifer Kreckel is expected to attend as well.
Plans are for the town to close on the sale by April 1.
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