Valpo hires broker to sell old North Coast property

VALPARAISO | By this time next week, Valparaiso could be the owner of the North Coast Distributing property on Silhavy Road.

The city's Redevelopment Commission received no bids for the property. The bids were due at 4 p.m. Wednesday and were to be opened at the commission's meeting at 5:30. The minimum asking price was $4.7 million and did not include the Coastal Valley Water building at the front of the property, which North Coast is keeping.

The commission agreed to hire NAI Hiffman, of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., one of six companies to submit proposals to serve as the real estate broker for the sale of the property. NAI Hiffman will receive a 5 percent commission on the sale of the property.

North Coast is building a new facility on Ind. 49 and expects to move into the new building in February. The commission agreed to buy the buildings and property, not including Coastal Valley, for $4 million Wednesday and will charge North Coast $1,000 a day in rent until it moves to the new site.

To pay for the purchase, the commission is using $2.1 million in its budget for the North Coast project and an additional $1.9 million left in the budget to develop a speculative industrial park. The closing on the property is expected to take place next week.

The commission also paid $800,000 to build the access road and extend water and sewer utilities to the new building and will pay $150,000 next year for a traffic signal at the Ind. 49 entrance to North Coast and the sheriff's offices.

NAI will market the property for a year. If no buyer is found, the commission is expected to turn the property over to the city for use as the new public works department campus. In the meantime, the commission expects to receive about $70,000 in rent.