Jefferson City Council unanimously approves sale of Capitol Avenue properties
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Council unanimously approved a pair of agreements for the Capitol Avenue neighborhood at its Monday night meeting, despite a contentious meeting earlier in the month.
The council voted to sell PG and Co. city-owned property at 405 and 407 East Capitol Ave. and 109 and 111 Adams St. Council documents state that the total purchase price for all four properties will be $42,000.
“The properties made available in the RFP were initially acquired by the City after a condemnation process that was initiated due to the deteriorating condition of the properties and a long history of nuisance violations,” city documents say.
The bill was first read during a Dec. 2 council meeting. During the meeting, Ward 5 Councilman Mark Schwartz proposed speeding up the process and voting after the first reading to show that Jefferson City is “open for business.”
Standard city protocol doesn’t allow for a vote after one reading. The contract has a Jan. 24 close date and an early vote would not have changed that according to City Attorney Ryan Moehlman.
Two council members opposed Schwartz's request to vote after the first reading, including Ward 2 Councilman Mike Lester and Ward 5 Councilwoman Mckenzie Job. Lester wanted to see the drawings first while Job wanted to see the bill go through the whole process and didn’t want the bill to pass without public feedback.
PG and Co. is owned by David and Paige Gregory. David Gregory (R-St. Louis) is a former Missouri House member who was recently elected to the Missouri Senate. New structures must follow the historic overlay of the street. The original bill said it would be a “castle-esque” structure but the initial drawings raised some concerns it might not fit in the historic neighborhood.
However, Ward 3 Councilman Scott Spencer and Ward 4 Councilman Derrick Spicer accused their fellow council members of delaying the bill because they didn’t like Gregory’s political beliefs.
“This is politically motivated. You know it. I know it,” Spicer said during the Dec. 2 meeting. “We are telling somebody because he is a Republican that we don’t want your business.”
Spencer also pointed to the fact that only one part of the proposal has changed since it was first introduced. Initially, PG and Co. wanted to build at 401 E Capitol Ave., but agreed to move further down the street after some residents expressed concerns about tearing down the historical building that sat there.
That building was sold to GKS Management. On Monday the council also approved the sale of 401 E. Capitol Ave along with six other properties to GKS Management for $31,000. GKS is owned by Shawn and Annie Kampeter who have already restored 417 E Captial Ave and are working on repairing 413 Captial Ave.
The contract includes 401, 409, 417, 414- 416 E. Capitol Ave. as well as 113 Adams St., 104-108 Jackson St., and 415 Commercial Way. Other than 401, each property is empty.
Spencer wanted to make sure the PG and Co. contract was approved first despite GKS having a Dec. 13 closing date, which needed to be pushed back. He argued that – similar to PG and Co. -- not all of GKS’s plans included drawings but since they were well-known in the community the council was willing to pass it which he felt was unfair to Gregory.
The area has become a hot-button issue for the city and residents over the past few years, with a number of properties requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. A number of properties were deemed dangerous.
Two properties on Capitol Avenue were available to be viewed in May. One home viewed by ABC 17 News – at 401 East Capitol Ave. -- had noticeable water damage, a hole in the roof, holes in the flooring, animal waste, piles of garbage, and areas where it was apparent animals and humans had been living in the dangerous structure.
