Price dispute stalls Artspace land deal

The figure seemed to jump off the page: a house in downtown Ventura for $315,000.

"When I read it, it seemed low," Ed Boughton of Prudential Real Estate said. "If I were the owners I certainly would want another appraisal. It's been a long time since anything has sold here for $315,000."

In June, the median price of a home in Ventura was $587,000, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

But that's how much an independent appraisal valued a 3,000-square-foot parcel at Ventura Avenue and Thompson Boulevard. And that's what city leaders and nonprofit Artspace Projects Inc. are sticking by as they aggressively try to negotiate its purchase to make way for a $30 million affordable housing project.

Without the parcel, officials say plans for some 50 units of affordable live-work space for artists, shops and a transitional living facility are finished. The group must secure ownership by Oct. 1 to be eligible for $4 million in federal housing subsidies for the project.

The Ventura City Council has vowed to exercise a last-ditch effort of eminent domain to acquire the land, if needed. In that event, a court would decide fair market value for the property.

The owner, area developer Oxnard Coastal Investments, LLC, has shrugged off all offers. The developer wants more, reportedly two to three times the appraisal amount -- and some, pointing to today's inflated housing prices, agree.

"When I saw it, I was incredulous," said Ventura resident Frank Pecarich, who recently sold a vacant pad at 405 Poli Street for $975,000, earning roughly $112 per square foot. "It seems clear to me that the appraised valuation of $315,000 isn't just wrong, it's dead wrong."

The Ventura County Assessor's Office put a $450,000 value on the Ventura Avenue parcel in 2004.

The $315,000 offer computes to roughly $105 a square foot for a piece of property that under current zoning would allow a single unit and has a buildable area of 81/2 feet by 40 feet, said Dave Armstrong, the city's downtown development project manager.

"It's a narrow, skinny lot with a 25-foot rear setback," Armstrong said. "So you would have to get variances. They (the owners) have argued they could build a three-story complex, but we don't see how."

The nonprofit's independent appraiser based its valuation on recent land sales downtown. The result: high-density, mixed-use property has sold for between $62 and $133 per square foot, Armstrong said.

Further, the appraisal had to be verified by a federally approved review expert.

"The point of this is to confirm that we are not trying to pull something," Armstrong said.

Chris Velasco, Artspace's vice president of consulting and new projects, pointed out how the nonprofit negotiated a deal with the owners of the nearby Mini Motors, situated only a block away. In that case, both sides produced appraisals. The values came back virtually the same -- roughly $100 a square foot -- and a deal was struck.

Artspace sent its appraisal to owners of the Ventura Avenue property in April, Velasco said. According to him, the owners have not responded with their valuation. Lee Sehon, who owns the house, declined to comment.

Artspace is eager to finalize a deal. Deadlines for critical funding are rapidly approaching. A subcommittee of the City Council was formed in recent weeks to assist negotiations, but as of Friday, the parties remain divided on a sale price.

"These are taxpayer dollars that are going to be used for this purchase -- and I don't think the property owners should try to take more than a fair price for their property," Velasco said.City Councilman Bill Fulton said it was only a few years ago that an offer of $100 per square foot for commercial property in downtown would have seemed outlandish. But not today.

"This is a perfectly reasonable price," he said. "I see no reason why it should not be the starting part for the negotiations."

A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo vs. New London confirmed that local governments have the right to take private property for public use.

"The concern about eminent domain is that you are taking private property then selling it, at a loss, to a private developer that will make a lot of money," Fulton said. "But that's not the case here.

"We are acquiring a piece of property to be combined with other city and private land to provide an affordable housing project and a transitional living center to be run by two credible nonprofit organizations."

For years, the city has sought and failed to obtain a site for a transitional home for individuals trying to end their homelessness, often facing neighborhood opposition. The city has studied some two dozen locations.

"We have had an extremely difficult time acquiring a site through conventional methods," Fulton said. "Sooner or later it was pretty clear that we were going to have to use some city property or use eminent domain to make this a reality."

Ventura County and Santa Barbara County Emminent Domain Ping

(Let me know if you want on/off this list)

50 units of affordable live-work space for artists, shops and a transitional living facility

What a wonderful way to spend free money.

They built a "seniors artists colony" in Burbank....and said there was high demand, etc. Still a lot of empty units. I am beginning to think it was just creative marketing to get something rushed through the development process.

I live in Ventura and have decided it is a discriminatory plan in that only artists will be able to occupy the federally subsidized low income housing spaces. Self employed people make or break their careers by their talent and ambition. Since when is federal and state and city subsidy an acceptable substitute income? Low income housing has always been reserved for those drawing a salary from someone else that is below average through no fault of their own. An artist is totally in control of their success or failure.

I'm certain the owner will not accept anything other than fair market value; otherwise, the City of Ventura will have a lot to answer for. Sounds like communism to me.

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