Salisbury Council OKs sale of two downtown parking lots

The sale of two city parking lots to Devreco, the developer responsible for  downtown redevelopment projects such as Headquarters Live, won formal approval from the Salisbury City Council on Monday night.

Devreco will pay $225,000 for Lots 1 and 11 behind the Downtown Plaza and bordered by Camden, Division, West Market streets and Circle Avenue, and will develop a multi-use plan for the land to include a mix of retail, apartments, park areas and parking.

Council members have spent the past several months ironing out the deal behind closed doors, and finally arrived at an agreement last week. Monday night’s meeting was the first time they had discussed the matter in public.

Salisbury ready to ink deal on downtown parking lots

Councilman Tim Spies was the lone dissenter, saying he had yet to be fully convinced that what the city wants to see on the 3.5-acre site will actually be built. Spies also thought the sale price was too low, considering the land was appraised at nearly $1 million.

The remaining council members said they welcomed the redevelopment of the lots which were first declared surplus property in 2002.

“This is an opportunity for us to do something exceptional,” said Councilman Jack Heath.

Monday night’s vote will allow Mayor Jim Ireton to execute a contract with Devreco by Oct. 31.

The contract will allow the city to continue using the parking lots and collecting fees until Devreco is ready to begin construction.

The contractor also will be required to replace all of the existing parking spaces as  part of the new design.

The parking lots were constructed after the city closed off part of Main Street to traffic in 1968 to create the Downtown Plaza.

Businesses and stores once lined Camden Street, facing what is now the back of the Plaza, and a bridge at the end connected the street to Camden Avenue on the other side of the river.

The development of the lots is key to Mayor Jim Ireton’s downtown plan for transformation, which includes goals of increasing the population by 750 residents and commercial space by 100,000 square feet.

Devreco  also built the the Gallery Building, the Brick Room, Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s office and redeveloped a North Division Street space as a Salisbury University art gallery.

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