The Palace and the City

A lot of people seem to want to believe that there's some kind of conspiracy or collusion happening regarding the Palace. The sad truth is that this historic landmark has been neglected by private property owners—for decades—to nearly the point of no return. The City of Ukiah doesn't own this building; we never have. However, when a private property deteriorates to the point that it becomes a public health and safety hazard, we have to get involved.

A year ago, City Staff and the City Council strongly believed that the Palace was being in the process of being sold to a buyer who had the resources and experience to bring the project to fruition. When that deal didn't close, it became clear that there was not an eminent project and a) additional pressure needed to be applied to the owner, and b) we needed to inspect the building to evaluate the extent of the deterioration.

The results of that inspection (9/29/23) were alarming and have been well documented, as well as confirmed by other people who have since seen the inside of the building. Regardless of the fact that the building was again in escrow with a new buyer and regardless of any other circumstances, it was deemed necessary to issue a Notice of Violation to the property owner to force remediation of the situation immediately. That remediation could be stabilization, demolition, or a combination thereof, and the pathway will be determined by the owner. None of those pathways can be completed overnight, so scaffolding and fencing were required. That's where we are. The prospective buyers have a plan and are actively working through it; those plans are constrained by other agencies' timelines that they cannot control. We expect to know more soon. — Shannon Riley, Deputy City Manager