Another downtown building in Jefferson is set to be offloaded by the City.

A rescheduled public hearing to sell and enter into an economic development agreement for the property at 100 East State with the private, all-female group called Why Not Us is scheduled for the regular city council meeting on May 25th. City Administrator Mike Palmer says the public hearing was originally supposed to be held on April 27th, but the attorney for Why Not Us requested an extension. 

Palmer says all of the details are now in place to hold the public hearing to sell the building. He recalls that extensive repair work the City had to do to make it a safe structure.

“Our end, the responsibility is to get a new roof on it, which we did. The roof is more than just putting a new cover on it. It was to completely reframe it and build it back up from scratch, essentially. The group (Why Not Us), they want to proceed as they had planned to do.”

Palmer points out that once the former Angie’s Tea Garden is sold at 100 East State Street, the City will be down to owning one building, the former Air Temp building on the east side of the square. He says the interior of the building has been cleaned out. The project includes restoring the storefront facade and beginning the process to make the interior a clean slate for a potential business to purchase. Palmer explains the work that’s needed on the exterior.

“Well we have architectural drawings on it. It would be to put the brick back in place and the storefronts how they originally were. The front of it, essentially, from my understanding, fell out at one point. That’s why there’s the vinyl siding there. It’s just 2×4’s behind it with the vinyl siding nailed to it.”

Palmer adds, the City is using tax increment financing funds to pay for the renovations to the former Air Temp building.