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EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — Eagle County has decided to forgo an agreement to exclusively negotiate the sale of the Lake Creek apartments in Edwards, Colorado with the group that manages the complex and get offers from other companies.
Commissioners signed a non-binding agreement with Corum Real Estate Group in October to exclusively negotiate the sale of the complex. Originally, $53 million was talked about as the price of the apartments, but Corum’s offer dropped and officials wanted to explore other bids for the property.
“The market has changed quite a bit,” Commissioner Jon Stavney said. “Their offer has dropped and we’ve had another group come in and say ‘here’s our offer’ — we want to get the market to say where it’s at now.”
Officials had initially hoped to close the deal with Corum before the end of the year, but decided to delay the process because of the poor economy.
“In order for us to consider another offer we felt it was appropriate we open it back up through the RFP process to see if there are other potential offers,” said Commissioner Sara Fisher.
Corum’s Executive Vice President James Fitzpatrick said he doesn’t blame the county for wanting to get additional bids on the property.
“We’d love to be negotiating with them exclusively,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think they’re in a situation where there is such decline in value, they felt obligated to verify that that in fact is the value.”
The property is worth ‘way less’ than it was six months ago, Fitzpatrick said.
The commissioners have talked about re-investing the money from the sale of the property into other affordable housing opportunities. Stavney said he’s still excited about those opportunities.
“It might not be worth as much, but if we can still make it happen we can recycle those dollars locally,” Stavney said.
Staff Writer Chris Outcalt can be reached at 970-748-2931 or coutcalt@vaildaily.com.
Commissioners signed a non-binding agreement with Corum Real Estate Group in October to exclusively negotiate the sale of the complex. Originally, $53 million was talked about as the price of the apartments, but Corum’s offer dropped and officials wanted to explore other bids for the property.
“The market has changed quite a bit,” Commissioner Jon Stavney said. “Their offer has dropped and we’ve had another group come in and say ‘here’s our offer’ — we want to get the market to say where it’s at now.”
Officials had initially hoped to close the deal with Corum before the end of the year, but decided to delay the process because of the poor economy.
“In order for us to consider another offer we felt it was appropriate we open it back up through the RFP process to see if there are other potential offers,” said Commissioner Sara Fisher.
Corum’s Executive Vice President James Fitzpatrick said he doesn’t blame the county for wanting to get additional bids on the property.
“We’d love to be negotiating with them exclusively,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think they’re in a situation where there is such decline in value, they felt obligated to verify that that in fact is the value.”
The property is worth ‘way less’ than it was six months ago, Fitzpatrick said.
The commissioners have talked about re-investing the money from the sale of the property into other affordable housing opportunities. Stavney said he’s still excited about those opportunities.
“It might not be worth as much, but if we can still make it happen we can recycle those dollars locally,” Stavney said.
Staff Writer Chris Outcalt can be reached at 970-748-2931 or coutcalt@vaildaily.com.
