City to buy bank site at central hub in $2M deal
After a year of negotiation, the city of Sausalito has entered into an agreement to purchase the Bank of America building for $2 million.
City officials said they aim to use the vacant building at 750 Bridgeway to enhance the downtown. A specific use will be determined by Aug. 31 — the deadline to finalize the purchase agreement, according to a city presentation.
Community input will be gathered through the city’s newly formed Economic Development Advisory Committee. A meeting is planned at 4 p.m. July 20.
“We can have more influence over how this building is used going forward versus leaving it up to some future owner,” said Councilman Tom Reilly. “So I’m excited to work with the EDAC and the public to discuss some of the ideas to inform the City Council whether to move forward on this purchase.”
At the City Council meeting Tuesday, some residents called in to share concerns about the public process, the building’s use and the purchase in light of recent budget cuts.
“It seems very big to not have any suggestions about what this use might be,” said Vicki Nichols, a resident and city planning commissioner. “But my biggest concern is we just went through a huge budget thing …
“Was this deducted from what our city budget was? And did this impact us having to borrow?”
If the city decides to move forward with the purchase, Councilman Joe Burns said the initial payment would come out of the general fund, but it would be paid back through a delayed financing process.
“This would be something then that really becomes less of a general fund purchase and more of a balance-sheet style purchase, in that we’re using the leverage of the building and the leverage of our tremendous asset, net position, to fund and to purchase
this,” Burns said. “And then to quickly get a more than one-to-one cost recovery as we get it tenanted and somebody in there and get the uses going.”
If the deal goes through, Bank of America will pay the city $2,500 per month to keep its ATM on the building. The city’s finance obligation to pay for the 4,800-square-foot building would be about $10,500 per month, according to the staff report.
Burns said the city does not know how much it would charge a tenant until a use is determined, but an estimate could be $15,000 to $20,000 per month.
“It’s a small rate where our monthly payment is well below even a very modest rent expectation,” he said. “So if we could acquire a building that basically paid for itself, if not with additional money each month to then provide a community use and a better opportunity for our businesses around it to be more prosperous, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”
He added the city would prefer one tenant, but there could be up to three or four different uses at the site.
Bank of America closed the branch to walk-in customers in May 2019, and it has been vacant since.
It was built in 1956 and is centrally situated across the street from restaurants and near the ferry landing.
The building has historically been used as a bank. Burns added that if the city purchases the building, a zoning change would be required.
“We own everything around it as a city,” he said. “The parking lot, bathrooms, the plaza, all the streets, so it’s about fitting the last piece of the puzzle into the larger picture.”