An eminent domain taking on the Midtown Mall is very much still a possibility, even after the building was sold to another Worcester property owner, the Worcester Redevelopment Authority said Friday.
The buildings, long a target of the city’s redevelopment agency, were sold earlier this month for $4 million to Felicio Lana, a property manager who owns two nearby Front Street properties.
City officials gave former owner Dean Marcus an ultimatum: submit a detailed redevelopment plan or face the city’s eminent domain power. Instead, Marcus chose to sell the buildings to Lana.
The WRA had not yet voted on eminent domain takings for the property but has started the process of obtaining appraisals on the property.
According to Chairman Vincent Pedone, Lana had indicated he has plans to redevelop the building, but that did little to quell the board’s concerns about the blighted property.
What wasn’t explicitly discussed was Lana’s history of building code violations at his downtown properties, several of which resulted in court action.
The board’s letter to Marcus last month will be reworked and sent to Mr. Lana. The board wants to know what his plans are, how he’ll pay for it and by what means he acquired the property.
The ownership change will have little effect on the WRA’s aggressive redevelopment strategy for the buildings.
Simultaneous to the city’s proactive approach on the property, the board is extending a courtesy invitation to Lana to discuss the future of the building, but eminent domain is not off the table, Pedone said.
“I don’t think a sale of the property … needs to slow down the process,” Pedone said. “It’s a broken tooth in a downtown smile.”
