Century says no to selling old building

In a 2 to 3 split vote Monday night, the Century Town Council did not approve a lease-to-purchase offer made by West Florida Gin to purchase the old helicopter technology building in Century's Industrial Park.

West Florida Gin's Robert Godwin and Larry Baxley, operating as North Escambia Warehouse and Storage, LLC, made an offer to purchase the building for $240,000 at $4,000 a month for five years to use for storage of cotton.

Council members Luis Gomez, Jr., James Smith and Sandra McMurray-Jackson voted no and Ann Brooks and Ben Boutwell voted yes.

Councilmen Smith and Gomez expressed concern that the agreement would not provide employment for Century residents, stating that if a company approached the council in the future to open a business there that did offer jobs, the town would miss out.

“I don’t see the benefit for the town,” Smith said. “Where’s the employment?”

Smith said the building is one of the few assets Century has and to tie it up for less than half of its value would cripple the town's ability to attract potential business in the future.

Councilwoman Ann Brooks had pointed out at the previous meeting that the building was appraised two years to be worth $550,000 several years ago, with rental at $80,000 a year, or $6,667 a month.

Baxley pointed out that his track record speaks for him, citing that he has purchased buildings in the area that had sat vacant for 10 to 20 years. He said that nobody wants these old buildings anymore and that they cost too much to upkeep.

“Almost every small town has at least one old building that sometimes sits for more than 10 years, sometimes 20 years,” said Baxley. “I've helped some of these towns by purchasing them, bringing them some sort of revenue.”

Originally built for Starter Sportswear in 1991, the building has had various businesses over the years but has sat vacant since 2009, when the town got the deed back.

Councilwoman Jackson asked Baxley about leasing the building for the five years instead of lease-to-purchase and Baxley said that he would not make the $10,000 repairs to the building to bring it up to code. He also noted a section of the roof where a damaging patch was made earlier will need to be repaired in the next couple of years to avoid serious and costly repairs in the future.