Update: Beaufort County secures Huddle House to clear way for Boundary Street park
Beaufort County Council took another step this week toward creating a planned passive park and open views along Battery Creek in Beaufort.
Council voted Monday to buy the Huddle House property on Boundary Street for $506,000. The county's purchase is contingent on Beaufort securing Sea Eagle Market and Beaufort County Open Land Trust buying the United Way building, a deal currently under contract.
Those acquisitions seem imminent as the entities work to clear the area from United Way on the south side of Boundary Street east to the cemetery. The work would serve to create an inviting gateway into the city to pair with an overhaul of Boundary Street during the next two years, city and county leaders say.
"It's kind of this perfect moment in time when all of these land owners were willing," Rural and Critical Lands program administrator Lisa Lord said.
Not all the property owners are on board yet. The Wendy's, a gas station and an old fire station building are still out for the taking.
Acquiring that property will be a matter of patience, said Dean Moss, an Open Land Trust board member and past president.
"That's the way these projects work, they take time," he said.
City Councilman Phil Cromer voted against supporting the project in October, objecting to property coming off the tax rolls and saying the city would need the money in the future for a possible parking garage.
Moss told city council the project would pay dividends well into the future. Visitors will remember the signature vista along with others in the city, he told them.
Mayor Billy Keyserling said at that meeting that the land fund used to buy the Boundary Street property could be replenished by selling other city property. Selling excess property is also how the city plans to help pay for a Carteret Street lot and office building.
The plan for the Boundary Street tract is for the county, city and Open Land Trust to buy up the available property, demolish the buildings and add a walking and bike path. The total cost is expected to be $3 million, with a gas station and Wendy's in the area not currently part of the planned purchases.
Keyserling said the park would enhance the $33 million Boundary Street project, which a city study showed would create an economic benefit of five times the cost. That work is expected to begin in January and could last two years or more.
County council members Bill McBride, Cynthia Bensch and Rick Caporale opposed the Huddle House purchase Monday. Caporale said the county was paying well above the assessed value.
The property was assessed at $486,000 for 2015, according to tax records. Before that, it had been assessed at $509,000 and as recently as 2012 had been valued at $579,000.
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen. Reporter Zach Murdock contributed to this story.
Related content:
- Boundary St. property eyed for creating Beaufort gateway; Wendy's renovation plans proceed, Feb. 5, 2015
- Beaufort City Council looks at buying, selling millions in property, March 17, 2015
This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Update: Beaufort County secures Huddle House to clear way for Boundary Street park."