Ed CagleEast Ridge will not spend over $340,000 for a parcel of property adjacent to its City Hall campus, despite authorizing its city manager to spend more than that for the site.
The property is the former Robert Hall Clothiers building at the corner of Ringgold Road and Tombras Avenue. Northwest Georgia Bank foreclosed on the property earlier this year.
During a special meeting Thursday, councilmen voted 3 to 2 to give City Manager Tim Gobble clearance to bid up to $459,000 for the property – a sum that made up the remainder of the city’s bond anticipation note fund.
But when the auction for the property kicked off Thursday morning, Northwest Georgia Bank started bidding at the property’s $340,000 appraised value.
“The council had given me flexibility to bid, but it started off too high,” Gobble said.
No one at the auction entered a bid, including the property’s former owner, Ed Cagle.
Councilmen Denny Manning and Jim Bethune voted against authorizing the bidding, saying they had toured the more than 50-year-old building and that it was in “very rough shape.”
“We don’t need the building; there’s no use for it. We’re not in the real estate business,” Bethune said.
The city is trying to sell its pool property on Monroe Street and trying to determine what to do with the old McBrien Elementary School building on Tombras Avenue.
Gobble said several businesses have considered moving into East Ridge but have balked because they could not find enough space along crowded Ringgold Road.
“We want to take more proactive steps from an economic development standpoint, whether that’s investing in property to resell or assisting a business or restaurant find a location,” Gobble said Wednesday.
Gobble said the city would keep an eye on the property.
Contact staff writer Kate Harrison at 423-757-6673 or kharrison@timesfreepress.com.