City Council to consider new appraisal of One Monument Square site.
TROY >> Fresh off contentious negotiations that led to the approval of a new city budget, Mayor Lou Rosamilia and the Troy City Council may square off once again tonight on another controversial topic.
Just two nights after voting to approve the 2016 city spending plan, the council will hold its regular monthly meeting, at which it is expected to vote on a proposal to seek a new appraisal of the city-owned property slated to be the site of the controversial One Monument Square project.
Council members voted 5-4 at their Finance Committee meeting Nov. 19 to advance the proposal by council President Rodney Wiltshire Jr., R-at large, to update an appraisal done more than two years ago and ensure the property was being sold at market value.
The last appraisal of the property came in the midst of a citywide revaluation, and in the ensuing time, supporters of the proposal said that value could have increased markedly. However, the city’s state-calculated equalization rate, which measures the relationship between assessed and actual property values, has not changed in the two years since the revaluation was completed, according to the state Office of Real Property Services website.
In addition to Wiltshire and Gordon, council members James Gordon, R-District 1; Anastasia Robertson, D-District 2; Robert Doherty, D-District 4; and Ken Zalewski, D-District 5; supported the proposal, while Lynn Kopka, D-at large; Erin Sullivan-Teta, D-at large; Dean Bodner, RDistrict 3 and Gary Galuski, D-District 6, voted against.
Mayor Lou Rosamilia expressed concern with the proposal Wednesday on a number of fronts, including the fact that the city already has a contract to sell the property to Kirchhoff Development for $650,000. He also shared the fear expressed at the Finance Committee meeting by Galuski that the property could be valued lower than the current sale price.
“What benefit could they get from it,” Rosamilia said of a new appraisal, “and how are they going to pay for it?”
Originally proposed as two buildings, the One Monument Square development was cut to just one because of a water main that runs through the property. More recently, the size of a first-floor space that was to house the Troy Waterfront Farmer’s market was reduced, with developers saying it was done to better accommodate other potential tenants if the farmers market didn’t move in. Market officials announced soon after that they were pulling out of the project because of concerns with both the size reduction and an increase in its costs.
As proposed, One Monument Square also includes street-level parking in front of the building, market-rate apartments and space for a restaurant.