Corbin Plaza offers opportunity for development
By Kate Daly Contributing Writer

Marlborough - Corbin Plaza is now city property, but although Mayor Nancy Stevens and the City Council want to put it back on the tax rolls, they don't want to auction it off to just anyone.

"My goal is to get it [Corbin Plaza] back on the tax rolls with a beneficial project," Stevens said recently.

She was reiterating the message she gave to the council's Operations and Oversight Committee at its March 3 meeting.

At that meeting, several committee members brought up the option of an immediate auction, to avoid long-term city ownership. At-Large Councilor Patricia Pope, who was not at the meeting, felt strongly enough to send a letter calling for the auction.

Because the city foreclosed on the property for unpaid taxes and interest, state law puts the disposition of the property under the mayor's jurisdiction. Stevens, however, told the committee she planned to work with the councilors.

"This project is too important for a decision to be made in a vacuum," she said at the meeting, noting that she wanted input from the council.

Stevens proposed developing a request for proposals (RFP) and then looking at the responses to help determine what will happen to the property.

"The RFP gives us more control over crafting the use," Stevens told the committee members. "We can put an RFP out for the building we want."

She has already heard from potential developers, who, she said, contacted her as soon as the city became owner.

"We've had a couple of people walk through," she said after the meeting. "This is all informal."

Because the property is close to another development in progress, the Christopher Heights assisted living residence, Stevens said she could foresee Corbin Plaza as a complementary project, such as doctors' offices.

"I'm not a developer," she said, but, "I think that the area lends itself to a very nice mixed-use project."

The property, located at 110 Pleasant St., now houses some businesses, a church and an apartment, City Comptroller Tom Abel said, and came into city ownership because the previous owner, Richard Bland of Corbin Plaza Corp., had failed repeatedly to pay city taxes.

"Taxes started going unpaid in the 1994-95 timeframe," Abel said.

After the owner failed to live up to an agreement to repay the taxes, the bill was $835,000 as of March 3, he said. That's more than the current assessment, which may be reduced, Abel said.

"It was assessed at $813,000," he said. "Our assessor had just indicated that he's reducing the assessment to somewhere in the $500,000 range based on the condition of the building."

While the taxes owed on the building are $331,725, the interest has gone up to nearly $500,000, Abel said. The city charges the state-mandated interest rate of 16 percent.

"It's heavy interest," he said. "The state is trying to ensure that people pay their taxes."

The members of the Operations and Oversight Committee toured the building just prior to their meeting March 3.

"It's not in great shape," said Ward 2 Councilor Paul Ferro, committee chair, after the meeting. "It's an odd situation. Some parts are very nice and some are not."

Several committee members expressed concern about the property remaining in city hands. Ward 1 Councilor Joseph Delano asked the mayor for a timeline for the development.

"I want to turn this around as quickly as possible," she said. "I can guarantee you will see things move very quickly."

Committee members asked Stevens to report back with information from city inspectors on the condition of the property.