Princeton City Council weighs options for deteriorated Euclid Avenue real estate

During Monday’s meeting, the Princeton City Council discussed the potential sale of real estate that the city deemed no longer useful.

The real estate in question, located at 717 N. Euclid Ave., is about 7,200 square feet and holds a vacant, deteriorated house on the lot. The property has been appraised at a value of $16,000.

Council member Jerry Neumann said that he had discussions with neighbors from the area about the problems the lot has gone through.

“This particular house has been sitting vacant and idle for over 15 years,” Neumann said. “It is a disaster. It’s about ready to fall over. My concern is that if we put this property up for sale, that it’s possible that it gets bought up by an unscrupulous landlord who will slap a coat of paint on it and rent it.”

After speaking with neighbors, Neumann said that he believes the building should be demolished before the sale of the property, and the city could recoup some of the demolition costs from the eventual sale.

Mayor Ray Mabry said some of his concerns in handling the demolition included the presence of asbestos in the basement and the demolition costs by professionals, which could exceed $20,000.

“I personally think that if we took it out for sale, with the understanding that people are going to be submitting a request for proposal, we won’t have to accept those buyers proposals if we decide that it’s not satisfactory for our long-term goal,” Mabry said.

Council member Michael McCall said his concerns with Mabry’s approach could be the timeframe that the city continues to hold onto the deteriorated property.

“Once we go through that process, how much time is it going to take for them to renovate or clean up the eyesore?” McCall said. “Could we be sitting on this for another year or two with what the residents next door have had to put up with?”

The resolution to put up the real estate for sale was denied by the City Council, with council members Neumann and McCall voting against moving forward with a sale, council member Martin Makransky and Mabry voting for moving forward with a sale, and council member Hector Gomez absent from the meeting.

Mabry said that the council will continue to discuss this topic and collect accurate information on projected asbestos removal and demolition costs.