Chaos building sale has fallen through, at least for now

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The old Chaos building onMain Streetis still on the market.

City officials are saying a proposed sale of the building has fallen through, at least for now. It is unclear at this time what has halted the deal.

The Carmel Redevelopment Commission in April approved to sell theArts & DesignCenterbuilding to an individual for $300,000, pending the completion of all necessary legal documentation. But Commissioner Jeff Worrell said he believed the deal had fallen through and the offer had been withdrawn.

Mayor Jim Brainard confirmed the deal has not been completed but said he did not know whether the deal has permanently fallen through. He said there were discussions of putting a restaurant in the building.

At the April meeting, CRC Director Les Olds said the commission had received a number of inquiries on the building during the past 18 months, but most potential investors underestimated the price of the building and the costs of renovating it.

“After they reviewed the building and the amount of work that it would take to rehab it, just about everyone backed away,” Olds said at the meeting. “The commission has debt on the building and our position was that we would not sell it unless we could recover a majority of the money we have paid for the project. At the same time, we wanted someone who would buy the building and do something that would meet the criteria the commission has for the arts district area, either totally remodeling the building, maintaining its historic character on the outside or tearing down the building and building a two-story structure minimum, as required by the overlay zone for Old Town.”

The most recent offer, he said, was to purchase the  building as is, with no requirements or expectations from the CRC to assist in repairing or renovating it. Olds added the potential buyer is aMain Streetresident who would have a vested interest in the district and that the proposed purchase and subsequent renovation would “be a good thing to happen forMain Street.”

A request for comment from Olds on the status of the deal has not been answered.

 


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