Three DeKalb-based developers eyeing former City Hall as Pappas gets city’s recommendation

DeKALB – Three DeKalb-based developers, Pappas Development, Irving Construction Company and Jim Mason, are eyeing the former City Hall for projects.

City Manager Bill Nicklas is recommending that the City Council approve John Pappas’ proposal, which would be his fourth high-end apartment complex in downtown DeKalb.

“Mr. Pappas has identified a market that did not exist in the downtown three years ago,” Nicklas said in city documents. “And has successfully borne the risk in proving its worth.”

According to city documents, the City Council will meet 5 p.m. Monday at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St. in the Yusunas Room to begin deliberations on the proposals. City Manager Bill Nicklas has said the city hopes to sell and approve the plan before the end of the year, with some of the revenue from the sale expected to go toward outfitting the DeKalb police with body-worn cameras.

Pappas – the owner and developer of three mixed-use luxury apartment complexes at Cornerstone DeKalb, Plaza DeKalb and Agora Tower – would buy the property for $600,000 with a tax increment finance request of $750,000 to cover demolition, underground utilities and sidewalk improvements, among other things.

With that money, Pappas is proposing to build a quadrangle building featuring four two-story structures with 78 furnished, upscale residents for lease plus amenities such as a meeting space, exercise space and recreational facilities, documents show.

Last week, DeKalb-based developer and landlord Jim Mason told the Daily Chronicle he wanted to turn the site into Mason Corporate Suites and a community center and said his plans would include the 51,000-square-foot lot to the east of the building, where he’d build 11 townhomes.

Mason’s proposal – which includes a purchase offer of $400,000 and a TIF request of $636,000 for roof replacement, excavation of paving and installation for new utilities, upgrading and repairing the HVAC system and landscaping – is the only one that does not include a demolition of the building. Nicklas has said a demolition would be the city’s preference because of the age and condition of the building.

Steve Irving, president of Irving Constriction Company, submitted a proposal that would build 18 detached, single-story, single family homes for sale on the land. Nine of the homes would face South Fourth Street and the other nine would face South Fifth Street, with detached two-car garages.

Irving’s proposal would buy the 2.5-acre property for $9,000 and include a TIF request of $1.6 million to be paid out over three years, documents show.

According to city documents, the look of the homes would be similar to Irving’s DeKalb/Pond/Fisk development project from the 1990s.

An alternative offer by Irving also was presented, which would include 11 attached single-family homes on the South Fourth Street corridor and 10 detached single-family homes on the South Fifth Street corridor.

The former City Hall is not being marketed as a packaged property as formerly discussed by the council, although the city owns the entire block, from Grove Street to the north, South Fifth Street to the east, Franklin Street to the south and South Fourth Street to the west. The municipal building, built in 1967 at the corner of Grove and Fourth streets, is three floors, with about 12,000 square feet per floor.

A 2013 building assessment for the municipal building identified a number of issues with the space, including the roof system, heating and air-conditioning systems and exterior precast walls, windows and doors, Nicklas has said. The bathrooms also are not Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant. The DeKalb Police Department moved out of the space in 2013.

The municipal building lies within a TIF district known as TIF 3, and developers are being asked to consider the purchase and redevelopment of the site for the purpose of returning the 2.5 acres to the city’s tax rolls.