A new possibility for affordable housing may be coming to Tarboro following a unanimous decision by the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners to sell the former county Health Department and Department of Social Services campus to Raleigh-based Hykal Properties for $350,000.
The Hykals made a written offer in February and appeared before the board in May to present their vision of what they felt the deteriorating property, located at 3003 N. Main St., could become.
At the time, the property had just been valued by the county’s appraisers for $2,507,129 during the recent countywide revaluation.
County Manager Eric Evans pointed out to commissioners that the four buildings on the campus were in “desperate need” of stabilization and told the board that the county’s estimate to stabilize the buildings was $2,465,000.
Commissioners instructed Evans to secure an independent appraisal of the property and to bring it back to the board so that they might consider the offer.
The county contracted with Collice Moore Properties of Greenville to conduct the appraisal. Collice C. Moore Jr. is a state-certified general appraiser.
Moore came back with an appraisal of $900,000 — which includes the 29-acre parcel and three buildings.
According to a narrative Evans provided commissioners, the property has been vacant since 2012 and since that time, the county has continued to maintain the property and buildings.
“However,” he wrote, “at some point after the buildings became vacant, the HVAC units were disconnected at two of the buildings, causing the buildings to rapidly deteriorate to the point that one building has become uninhabitable due to mold and the other (building) continues to decline as well.”
Evans provided commissioners with figures indicating annual costs and tax revenue lost along with the estimated costs to stabilize the structures.
According to Evans’ data, utility (electricity, water and sewer) costs for 12 years totaled $312,000, while annual grass-cutting costs for 12 years totaled $192,000, and lost taxes (at $0.95 per $100 in valuation) over 12 years totaled $285,812.76.
On top of that, the estimated cost of stabilizing the buildings increased beyond Evans’ initial May estimate.
Based on more recent figures, mold remediation, a new roof (where needed), removal and replacement of walls and ceilings (where needed), the removal and replacement of flooring (where needed) and HVAC replacement would cost $3.5 million for the four buildings on the campus.
After the board voted, Commissioner George Thorne questioned the county’s not maintaining the buildings to the extent of the damage that has occurred.
In other action, commissioners approved:
The transfer of school property from Nash County to Edgecombe County as part of the demerger of what was the Nash-Rocky Mount school system. Starting with the 2024-25 school year, Rocky Mount residents living on the Edgecombe County side of the city will now be served by Edgecombe County Public Schools. With that change, Edgecombe County’s school system is taking on three elementary schools, a middle school and an office building that was transferred over as part of the demerger.
A resolution of intent to reimburse for the replacement of HVAC controls at the Edgecombe County Detention Center. Thorne questioned why the county would finance a $100,000 loader for 20 years when it had millions in reserve. As a result, the motion was amended to remove any reference of financing the loader.
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