Hatboro Gets Update on Wachovia Bank Sale

With only three weeks to go for bidders to submit proposals for the old building, Hatboro’s real estate marketing consultant said Monday that no one has actually toured the South York Road property.

“There was no interest or inquiry of anyone coming through,” CresaPartners Managing Principal Matthew J. Feeney told the borough council Monday. 

Bids will be accepted until May 1. To date, no formal proposals have been received, officials said.

CresaPartners, who is marketing the shuttered bank building, has sent an e-mail blast to 350 real estate professionals; distributed one-page fliers to more than 300 people; e-mailed six more in-depth packets to individuals who expressed interest from the flier; and “direct marketed” to nine financial institutions, according to Feeney.

Feeney said one of the financial institutions expressed interest and added that the property has seen a “fair level of activity.”

Yet, Mayor Norm Hawkes questioned why the large red-and-white sign on the building in question did not provide a Web site address. Hawkes said finding information online was also challenging.

“That’s different than most auction companies,” Hawkes said of the approach.

After officials pointed out that the Wachovia Bank building is not being auctioned, Feeney said omitting a Web site address was done on purpose.

“We want to take the phone call,” Feeney said. “We always want to engage in the dialogue to find out how real it might be … In a local situation our buyer is likely a local buyer. We want to get people to be calling us so we can answer questions.”

The council discussed the possibility of requesting bid solicitation following the May 1 deadline if bids have not been received, or if the bids are deemed to be unreasonable.

In other business, the council accepted – but took no action on – a proposal to carry out a feasibility study for a new police station. Gene Grimaldi of the Omnia Group Architects submitted a one-page proposal to the council outlining the cost of carrying out a dual-pronged feasibility study to look at the options of either renovating and expanding the existing police station or razing it and building a new facility.

One of the issues is whether the Public Works department would be relocated from the police building. Public Works Superintendent Fred Zollers said the building currently houses paint, snow-blowers, generators and public works trucks. 

“We’re just trying to present ideas so internally you guys can decide if you want to do that,” Grimaldi said.

Council President Marianne Reymer said the feasibility study would be covered from a $70,000 line item in the capital improvement section of the 2011 budget.

Councilman John Zygmont said the police station concept has been “thrown around the last six years.” He said Grimaldi did some pro bono work two years ago.

The council is expected to vote on the feasibility study at its meeting in two weeks.

The council also heard an update from state DEP and EPA officials regarding testing wells installed recently to determine if contamination from the Raymark Superfund site had migrated closer to residences. Tests are expected to be undertaken in three weeks, officials said and more information will be forthcoming.