Mission Viejo : Council Sells Site Bought for City Hall

Once destined to become the new City Hall, a two-story office building owned by the city for less than a year has been approved for sale by the City Council.

By a 4-1 vote, the council Monday agreed to sell the 2-acre site at 24800 Chrisanta Drive to J.B. Financial Inc. for $3.35 million.

The sale is contingent on the company selling a condominium complex in Oceanside within six months, city officials said.

The city will take a $400,000 down payment and will carry the papers on the building until the company pays off the $2.950-million balance. If the company fails to pay the full amount within six months, the city keeps the office complex and the down payment, Assistant City Manager Dan Joseph said.

Considering the current soft real estate market, Councilwoman Sharon Cody was “delighted that we could sell the property. I’m glad the market allowed us to find a buyer. The money was right and (J.B. Financial) seemed real solid, and we got the money we put into Chrisanta back out of that property.”

Councilman William Craycraft said he cast the dissenting vote because he hadn’t seen any recommendation from the city’s staff.

“I would have felt more comfortable about it if the city manager and the city attorney had looked at it,” Craycraft said.

Council members had originally intended the building to be converted into a temporary City Hall when they authorized its purchase last summer for $3.1 million. But when a new council majority was elected last November, they decided to scrap plans to renovate the Chrisanta property in favor of building a civic center complex on a 7-acre site near Crown Valley Parkway.