Lease option: Old City Hall sold

On Jan. 26, the city of Placerville finalized a lease with an option to purchase agreement with A.M. Pacific Engineering, a local engineering company, for the old city hall buildings at 487 Main St. for the listed price of $625,000.

"After two to three years of attempting to sell the buildings, we have reached an agreement which will preserve the rich heritage of the buildings and put them back into a useable state," read a press release from the city.

Locally known as the "Catsup and Mustard" buildings, the red Confidence Hall building,which was built in 1860 and housed the volunteer fire department and the yellow building next door, built by "Emigrant" Jane Johnson in 1861, and used as a boarding house, share a common wall.

They were used as Placerville City Hall from 1902 until 2005 when city staff moved into City Hall's current location at 3101 Center St.

"A.M. Pacific Engineering is investing in the project with plans to restore the buildings for specific uses and then either lease or sell them to future tenants. It is expected that the final product will be a mixed-use property that could include residential, retail and/or office uses. The city maintains the control to ensure the future uses are consistent with our historical downtown (allowed uses in that area)," continued the city press release.

"The city has included appropriate safeguards to ensure the historic facade of the buildings is maintained and not altered without proper reviews. In addition, securities will be held to make sure the buildings are restored and kept in good condition," the release read.

Mike Murray, president of A.M. Pacific Engineering, said he plans to restore the two buildings to their original 1860s look and has posted photographs in the windows of the buildings to give the public an idea of what they will look like when the renovation is completed.

"We're going to start with the Confidence Building and put the swinging doors back where they were when it was a firehouse," said Murray. "We'll remove the modernization that the city did years ago on the inside, like the plaster and baby-blue carpet, and expose the original brick."

A tower, once atop the buildings will be replaced as well.

Murray said the shutters from the Emigrant Jane building and the front porch, both original to the building, will be removed and renovated off-site, then replaced on the building.

"The Emigrant Jane building is in worse shape, but both buildings are damaged just from sitting empty," Murray said.

He plans to separate the two buildings which now share joint utilities. The city is paying for the separation of utilities, which also include the two public restrooms, but Murray's company will be funding and doing the renovation of the buildings.

"We're making this attractive to another buyer by fixing the existing problems and making the buildings useable again," said Murray.

The agreement is a joint venture between public and private entities, which benefits both, said Murray.

"A lot of public entities are going to this model in order to save time and money and streamline the process. The city doesn't have to go through the time-consuming and expensive process of putting government work out to bid with all the restrictions and limitations, because we're leasing the building and doing the work. We recoup our investment when we sell the buildings," said Murray.

The agreement includes 16 parking spaces in the city's parking lot behind the buildings.

"We're excited about having the buildings restored and getting a good use out of them," said City Manager Cleve Morris.

Murray said he will be doing interior work first and will be working closely with the historical association and the city on the exterior renovations. He is working with local architect John Westphal and has already been discussing plans with him.

"We have to make the buildings ADA (American Disability Act) compliant, so separating them is important," said Murray. "We'll probably make the upstairs of each building into a business condominium or apartment and the downstairs into retail or office space."

TEAM Realty brokered the deal between the city and A.M. Pacific Engineering.

"We've been working on this for a year and a half," said Ann McQuillen of TEAM Realty.

"There were a lot of factors involved, like separating the public restroom out, because it shares electrical with the buildings and whether to sell them separately or as a unit.We've had to think outside the box on this, but we got it done,"said Peter McQuillen.

Whenever the doors are open, Murray said there are always people looking in to see what's going on and he welcomes public input.

"I've always loved these buildings, especially the Confidence Building. Not many towns still have the original firehouse. It's a gem of the town," said Murray. "It's going to be a fun project and I'm looking forward to getting started."