News-Record.com

HIGH POINT — When the City Council voted to buy a vacant Piedmont Natural Gas building last month, it was the end of a long negotiation.

The city wanted the 3.66-acre property on Northpoint Avenue for its parks and recreation department, whose office leases were coming to an end.

But some in High Point — including council members — say they think the city paid too much.

The property was appraised at $1.2 million, but the city paid $1.5 million — a fact that is still a sticking point with the three council members who voted against the purchase.

Councilman Mike Pugh, who represents the city’s 3rd Ward, said he doesn’t understand.

“I’m a Realtor and I have never seen anybody pay more than a property is appraised for,” Pugh said. “Especially not in this depressed real estate market. It’s a buyer’s market now, and we’re paying above its appraised price?”

Henry Shavitz, a High Point real estate agent who served on the council in the 1970s, said news of the sale infuriated him.

“I have been in real estate for more than 50 years, and I think this was just a dumb, arrogant decision by this council,” Shavitz said. “They’re not analytical enough. In this market there are so many other properties they could have had, and plenty of land to go with them, at that price.”

Pugh and others said the city should have looked at other properties before fixing on the building — especially properties in downtown High Point.

“We have been talking about this core city plan and wanting to get investment and developers in the core city,” Pugh said. “But then we have the chance to lead by example and do something there ourselves, and we fail to do that.”

But supporters of the purchase point to the property’s actual tax value — over $2 million — and the money the city would have spent leasing offices while they searched for something else.

Mayor Becky Smothers said she initially voted against the sale — but after doing more research, she turned around on it.

“We have office leases and a customer service center at Oak Hollow Mall that is quite expensive,” Smothers said. “When we looked at the numbers, it was going to cost us $62,000 more per year than what we’re paying right now in leases and rent. And for the money we were spending, we didn’t have anything to show for it.”

Smothers said the new space is big enough for multiple uses — and she disagrees that a core city property would have been better.

“One of the arguments was that it would be more accessible to people if it was downtown,” Smothers said. “But for many of the things people would need to do there — pay water and other city service bills especially — you can already do that downtown at City Hall.”

Smothers said the City Hall site can be hard for people to get to — especially during Furniture Market, when parking spots are hard to find.

“This site is on the city bus line, and it’s in a different part of town, so people have access in both places,” Smothers said. “All things considered, it made economic sense to buy the building we bought. It’s a prudent investment.”

Parks and Recreation Director Allen Oliver said that since moving in at the end of last month, his department hasn’t had any trouble with the property.

“The truth is that we would have gone wherever we were directed and we respect the opinions of all the city council members who made arguments,” Oliver said. “But we’re pleased with the space we were given. It has large meeting room space for public meetings and parks and rec meetings. There’s even room for expansion.”

Contact Joe Killian at 883-4422 or joe.killian@news-record.com