The city manager is leading the charge in the potential sale of 150 acres of land at the Ocala International Airport business park.
During Tuesday’s meeting of the Ocala City Council, city manager John Zobler requested permission to negotiate the initial sale of 75 acres of land to Insurance Auto Auctions (IAA), a private company that auctions off vehicles.
Zobler explained that if the sale is approved, the company will have 12 months to purchase an additional 75 acres of land.
Zobler was met with a little hesitation before council members ultimately decided to give their blessing.
“We’re getting a brand new terminal out there. It’s kind of a new setting and everything. Do you think that maybe once we get the new terminal out there and it has a new look and everything, there might be other people that go ‘hey, I want to be here.’ I mean, are we doing this out of desperation,” asked Mayor Kent Guinn.
Zobler explained that the type of company purchasing the land was not out of the ordinary, drawing a parallel to the Orlando International Airport.
Council members Brent Malever and Jay Musleh were supportive of the decision, citing similar auction companies that have had success and the fact that the property has been in the city’s possession for years with no interest.
“This property has been on the market for nine years. We’ve had zero closings. The closest we got was to a tomato business that would have failed by now,” said Musleh. “I whole-heartedly endorse doing our due diligence and entering into negotiations with [IAA].
“I’m familiar with the auctions through Manheim, they have eight auction companies in the state of Florida. They have from bottom to top and they keep them nice. They have from three to five thousand cars run on one day,” said council member Brent Malever.
“They keep it really, really nice. These auction companies have to do that. We’ve got over $2 million invested in this property. If you put 6% on it, in ten years, look where we would be. Let’s do it, like we need to,” added Malever.
“We’ve been sitting on this for a number of decades now without any takers,” said Zobler.
Zobler indicated that the city will enter into negotiations and is looking to sell the land for approximately $35,000 an acre, which would put the total sale of all 150 acres at over $5 million. Although he believes the amount is consistent with similar properties, Zobler says the city will wait for an official appraisal of the property before entering negotiations.
The property, which abuts SW 67th Avenue, is located to the west of the main terminal and just north of the Ocala Regional Sportsplex (3500 SW 67th Ave).
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