The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank commission is rethinking how to handle the sale of its office building at 167 and 169 Main street in Edgartown after its callout for nonprofits and government entities to buy the property recieved zero bids.
The land bank planned to offload the property after purchasing a 14-acre Meetinghouse Road property last year for $9.5 million. The new property was envisioned as the future home of the land bank and the commission put out a request for proposals on the old building in March, calling for bids from nonprofits and government entities. The minimum bid was $1.5 million.
But when the deadline for proposals ended on May 18, the land bank came up empty.
“The land bank had a number of inquiries, and a number of site visits, and that all resulted…in a receipt of zero bids,” said land bank executive director James Lengyel, at a commission meeting on Monday.
The land bank wanted to give nonprofits and governments a first crack at buying the highly-coveted Upper Main street spot, but now some commissioners are wondering if it should be made available to a wider buyer pool.
“There’s a lot of expense associated with setting up the new office,” said Aquinnah commissioner Sarah Thulin, arguing that the commission should put it on the market to be sold to the highest bidder.
Edgartown commissioner Steve Ewing felt they should make another effort to find a government or nonprofit buyer.
“I think there could be a better use for this property than a single-family home,” he said. “There’ll be a swimming pool in the backyard, you know?”
The commission will consider how to proceed at its next meeting, after Mr. Lengyel consults legal counsel about the land bank’s options. Dukes County commissioner Doug Ruskin also asked to arrange a meeting with the land bank to consider the possibility of an intermunicipal agreement for the county to acquire the property.
