Ansonia probably won’t purchase an unused office building from Ansonia Copper and Brass, according to the Board of Aldermen President Stephen Blume.
City leaders were looking at possibly buying the building on Liberty Street. A land-use subcommittee of the Board of Aldermen started talking about it in June.
But the asking price and cost of renovating the building were more than the city wanted to spend, Blume said.
“It doesn’t seem to be a good deal,” Blume said last week. “If we had any money, we’d buy the land off Pulaski Highway.”
The Pulaski Highway land Blume referenced is the site where a developer wants to put about 30 homes.
Ansonia Copper and Brass owner Ray McGee also didn’t return repeated calls for comment.
In June, McGee said he wanted to see if the city was interested in purchasing the building, as Ansonia Copper and Brass looks to sell off some unused properties.
McGee said one possible deal the city and company could work out is to waive unpaid back taxes and some future taxes in exchange for the building. Or the city could buy the property outright, he said.
Ansonia Copper and Brass owes about $54,000 in taxes on the administrative building.
It owes about $170,000 on all its Ansonia buildings, according to corporation counsel Kevin Blake.
Too Expensive
Blake said it would cost the city about $400,000 just to clean up hazardous conditions at the building. He said renovating it beyond that to fit the city’s purposes would be more money.
Ansonia was eying the building for a possible new location for the Ansonia Police Department.
“What it would cost to renovate it, we can’t afford that expense right now,” Blake said. “Right now, with the economy the way it is, money is sparse.”
Blake said the city might look at the property in the future, but for now had told McGee it wasn’t interested.
