County receives second offer on downtown courthouse building

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By Terri House and

Clayton Chaney

Staff Writers

A second letter of intent to purchase the Archuleta County Courthouse building located at 449 San Juan St. was submitted to the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Tuesday. 

Ronnie Urbanczyk of Urban Concrete Contractors submitted his proposal to purchase the “county property known as the Courthouse, County Offices and former Jail and Sheriff facilities”via real estate broker Michael Heraty.

The proposal reads: “Under the terms of this proposal, Owner/Developer will: 

“• Enter into a purchase contract for the Building and pay the County $250,000 up front in cash for the right to acquire the Building.

“• The County will be allowed to continue to occupy their space in the building at no cost (County to pay operating expenses).

“• Owner/Developer shall have an exclusive right to lease the space that is not occupied by the County.

“• Owner/Developer shall have the exclusive right to complete a build-to-suit building for the County at a location and upon terms mutually acceptable to the parties.

“• Owner/Developer shall pay the County a move-in bonus of $50,000 upon the commencement of occupancy in the new location.

“• The lease agreement with the County shall be for a term not to exceed 5 years. The County will agree to waive all fees and charges associated with the current building and the new building (permit fees, etc).”

Urbanczyk’s professional biography accompanied the proposal. He serves as president, CEO and owner of Urban Concrete, which he founded in the early 1980s. 

“For nearly 40 years he has led the company from its humble beginnings to its position today as one of the largest concrete contractors in the State of Texas,” reads the bio. “The Company is a dominant player in both residential and large-scale commercial projects.” 

The document also states that Urbanczyk and his wife, Terry, are recognized leaders within the philanthropic community. It goes on to cite several Texas organizations the couple has supported. 

“We believe this outlined transaction presents our County with a viable path forward towards addressing its current and future needs, while providing maximum flexibility for time and planning, and a reduced financial burden on county taxpayers,” wrote Heraty in his email to the commissioners.

When asked if Urbanczyk has plans to demolish the current downtown structure, he responded through his agent in an email, “I don’t want to demolish the county building, I like old buildings and have the experience, expertise and resources to fix them, including an engineering firm that specializes in this sort of project.”

Earlier this month, David Dronet, managing partner with Olympus Real Estate Holdings, also presented an offer to the BoCC via a letter of intent to lease and purchase the courthouse building.

At a work session held on April 6, Dronet explained the company is offering to lease the building for a maximum of five years at a rate of $5,000 per month.

At the end of the lease, the company would pay a cash price of $250,000 for the building.

The letter of intent uses the example of the company leasing the building for two years, accumulating $120,000 in rental income paid to the county, plus the additional cash price of $250,000, totaling $370,000 being paid to the county for the property.

Also included in the letter is a request for a $75,000 credit or fee waiver for dumping costs at the county “dump.”

Dronet noted there have been some challenges for the BoCC with the immediate sale of the building.

He pointed out how the property is still “encumbered by some outstanding bonds”; however, he indicated that those bonds will be released in the next two to three years.

He explained that is why his company is offering to lease the building in its current condition as it would be able to use the space for storage purposes. 

“By taking this approach, the county would receive revenues it wouldn’t otherwise receive for the next several years and then when you combine those with the purchase price, you get to a cash price that’s higher than what I think you’ve seen in the past,” Dronet said, also pointing out this deal “would allow the county to reap a higher value than just the inherent value of the land itself.”

Archuleta County administrator Scott Wall told The SUN on Tuesday he expected the commissioners to consider the offers in early May.