by BizWest Staff
GREELEY – The Weld County Board of Commissioners on Monday closed on the $5.5 million purchase of the Chase Plaza building in downtown Greeley.
The building at 804-822 Seventh St., near the Weld County Courthouse and Justice Center, was purchased through an auction process; the purchase price amounts to less than $46 per square foot.
In addition, two other parcels are under contract near the Chase building that will add long-term parking capacity for court and justice center personnel as well as allowing for future expansion.
The county has been holding funds in capital reserve to acquire tracts around the historic Weld County Courthouse as part of a strategy dating to the mid-1980s.
“The Weld County commissioners feel the recent property purchases are a win-win situation for the county government, downtown Greeley and the taxpayers of Weld County,” said commissioner Sean Conway in the media statement. “The property was acquired from willing sellers, and the county purchased all the property with cash to maintain its debt-free financial status.”
The Chase Plaza, which had sold in 2008 for $9.95 million, will provide the county with 119,875 square feet of office space, plus parking for future county use. Nearly two-thirds of the space in the building will remain leased until the county has a need for it, according to a media statement. In the future, more than 100 county employees will be relocated to the vacant space.