Borough wants to sell unused armory

The borough is selling the unused National Guard armory at 101 Second Ave. The armory was built in 1982 on land leased from the city, and the building was turned over to the borough when the Guard shut down its Wrangell operations in 2017.

The 30-by-40-foot, wood-frame metal-sided building on a 0.21-acre lot has been appraised at $110,000. The borough has set a minimum price for the sale at $99,000.

The borough had planned to sell the property by outcry auction, but the decision was postponed at the June 8 assembly meeting when Assemblymember David Powell asked that the borough sell the building on a national surplus government property website in hopes of attracting a wider pool of potential buyers.

Borough Clerk Kim Lane said bidders will be required to put down a $500 deposit to show they are serious about their bid. The winning bidder will be required to pay 20% within three days and sign a purchase agreement, and pay the remainder within 60 days.

The $500 deposit will be returned to all of the bidders, Lane said.

After brief discussion, the assembly at its June 22 meeting unanimously approved the plan to put the armory property up for sale on the website. Bidding opened online June 24, and will remain open until July 30.

A private company operates the website for the sale of surplus government property and passes on its fee to the buyers. The winning bidder for the armory will pay a 5% premium.

The property can be found online at the borough's website link to surplus property for sale.