REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
November 19, 2015
FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
THROUGH: ANDREW J. BENELLI, PE, City Engineer/Assistant Director
Public Works Department, Traffic and Engineering Services Division
BY: CRAIG L. HANSEN, Supervising Real Estate Agent
Public Works Department, Real Estate Services Section
SUBJECT
Title
Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute a grant deed for the sale of City of Fresno owned vacant property (APN 478-102-19T and 478-102-20T), located at the southeast corner of Cherry Avenue and Railroad Avenue, to the State of California for the amount of $107,000. (Council District 3)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
To approve the sale of 32,841 square feet of vacant property located at the southeast corner of Cherry Avenue and Railroad Avenue to the State of California for the High Speed Rail project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Fresno, through the Redevelopment Agency, utilized General Fund dollars to acquire the subject properties in 2007 as part of a plan to create a temporary homeless encampment. At the time, this temporary homeless encampment was to replace the ad hoc encampment located several blocks north under the former Monterey Street overpass. This transaction was to be just one of numerous purchases with the goal of assembling enough contiguous property to create a campus. The following year, in 2008, the economy went into recession and the project stalled. Today, these properties are in the path of High Speed Rail and the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has offered to purchase the subject property for the appraised amount of $107,000.
BACKGROUND
The City of Fresno appropriated General Fund dollars to acquire the subject property in 2007, with the Redevelopment Agency handling the actual property acquisition. By 2008 the project was abandoned, partially due to the economic downturn and City budget reductions. The subject...
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