14 Sep 2012
Building Specialties property at mouth of Horse Gulch under contract
This is the current Building Specialties Store as seen from E. 8th Ave.
A City official and local realtor have confirmed that the Building Specialties property at the mouth of Horse Gulch is under contract with Pediatric Partners of The Southwest, a local business.
Relevant to people using Horse Gulch is the fact that the City has already begun talking with Pediatric Partners’ owner, Cecile Fraley, about the possibilities of selling 1.67 acres of the land to the City. No offer has been made by the City for any part of the property, as Pediatric Partners does not own it yet, and the City is still brainstorming the idea.
The possibility exists of paving part of the property for a parking lot and putting irrigated landscaping there if the city and public approves, said Durango’s Natural Lands, Trails and Sustainability Director Kevin Hall at a Natural Lands Preservation Advisory Board meeting Monday.
Plans to remove the currently-existing large steel-sided shed that was used for storage and work space and replace it with a parking lot are preliminary, of course, given the outcome of the current contract between Building Specialties and the Osborne family trust that was established.
“We’ve been talking to Steve (now diseased), and now we’re talking to the folks that are acquiring the property about what opportunities might exist to put a proper front door on Horse Gulch essentially. For lack of a better term,” said Hall. “It doesn’t have a lot of curb appeal to set the tone right now in terms of what we have there relative to what we have up top. 1300 acres.”
“Their family trust has essentially contracted with a separate buyer, which is Pediatric Partners,” said Hall. “It’s under contract to purchase and redevelop the site. Osborne family is largely out of it other than the property transaction, then,” said Hall.
This is the structure on the Building Specialties property at the mouth of Horse Gulch where the City is discussing the possibilities of putting a paved parking lot replete with irrigated landscaping if the property owners, Boards and community agrees.
Monday’s meeting was the first time that discussions between the City and Pediatric Partner’s Cecile Fraley had been discussed by the Natural Lands Board collectively outside of an executive session. A property transaction between Pediatric Partners and the City is conceptual, and will be discussed by the Board at future meetings.
“Unless it’s a situation that everybody like in terms of the boards and the city council and the community,” said Hall. “If everyone decides they don’t like it, then it won’t happen.
Cecile Fraley of Pediatric Partners of the Southwest did not return this blogger’s voice message, and Kevin Hall did not return this blogger’s email in request of more information pertaining to this property earlier this week.
