Cape County not top bidder for federal building

News that was first broken publicly by a judge in open court Thursday was confirmed later in the day by those in the know -- the Cape Girardeau County Commission was not the top bidder for the former federal building.

Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy acknowledged that the top offer of $325,015 for the building did not come from county government.

"The county was not the top bidder," Tracy said. "We'll leave it at that. The process is still ongoing."

Fellow commissioners Jay Purcell and Paul Koeper authorized Tracy to bid during the General Services Administration's online auction up to an undisclosed amount. The GSA's task is to unload surplus governmental properties.

The top bid stood uncontested for 24 hours before the auction closed Jan. 12. Tracy wouldn't comment about why he hadn't made a higher bid during that time, though he said he hadn't acted haphazardly.

"This process has been so unpredictable," he said. "But we were very deliberate and diligent. We tried to make sure that we were being good taxpayer advocates."

The identity of the top bidder is still secret, per GSA rules, but the deal must be closed and full payment made by Feb. 21, the agency has said. At that time, the agency will release the buyer's name. In the first online auction last year, no deal was reached after three of the top bidders backed away from offers as high as $600,000.

That's why Tracy said he was reluctant to talk specifics about his strategy because if this bidder backs away, the county could be in the running again. He also pointed out that the county made a sizable offer before the first auction began, but it was rejected by the GSA, which maintained it would get more at auction. The GSA had listed a suggested selling price of $750,000, more than double the top bid.

Tracy said he would discuss his logic more after the deal closes.

"But it's been frustrating," Tracy said. "Their actions have almost defied reason."

Tracy also isn't ruling out buying the federal building from a new owner, who may be looking to renovate and resell it.

"It would be easier to buy it from a private entity, that's for sure," Tracy said.

Tracy wasn't the first elected official to say the county's wasn't the highest offer.

Judge William Syler offhandedly mentioned it to a courtroom full of potential jurors Thursday. Syler was apologizing for the fluctuating temperatures in a courtroom at the Common Pleas Courthouse during a trial's jury selection. He suggested that the accommodations wouldn't be getting any better, noting that he had been informed that the county hadn't gotten the federal building.

The county has had its eye on the two-story building since 2005 as a possible replacement for the Common Pleas Courthouse. More recently, the commission has said it would use the federal building for certain county offices and courtrooms as a stopgap until a new consolidated courthouse could be built in Jackson.

The idea was first promoted by Purcell, who said Thursday he's far from giving up on the idea of the county getting its hands on the federal building.

"I've been fighting for that for years, and just lately it's started to catch on," Purcell said. "It still makes sense that the federal building would offer a short-term solution if we can acquire it at a good value. But can we still get it? I don't know."

Staff writer Erin Ragan contributed to this report.

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