RIO GRANDE – The County of Cape May will be moving its Social Services building to the site of the former Kmart in Rio Grande. The deal is providing better financial terms for the county and is more accessible to the public, according to a release.
The county purchased the entire Kmart shopping plaza. Bidding started at $4.6 million, and ultimately the county prevailed at auction with a final bid of $5.75 million. The property was appraised at $10.4 million.
There was an initial lease to purchase agreement in place for the former Kmart store alone. However, the entire property went into bankruptcy, which provided the potential for better financial terms for the county; over the long term, if they were to purchase the entire plaza.
“County Counsel (Jeffrey) Jeff Lindsay called me with the idea of purchasing the property and when he explained how it could benefit the county, we all decided to jump on it,” stated Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton. “Freeholder Jeff Pierson and I have been working on this project for a while. I am proud of the whole team who put this project together.”
The county doubled the space from the current Social Services building for less than the cost to lease the existing 62,000-square-foot building.
The county is also moving on from its current triple net lease at the current Social Services building. State and federal funds will help offset the cost of operating the Social Services building.
It was also announced recently that the county has a lease agreement with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a state-of-the-art community based outpatient clinic.
The VA is going to pay the county $1.3 million for renovations and then rent the space at the same dollar per square foot the county was paying under the lease agreement.
There are also discussions with the state to locate two state offices at the facility (approx. 11,000 sq. ft.) with it paying renovation costs and rent.
“When this project is completed it will be a big win for the Department of Social Services, which I oversee,” stated Pierson. “It was also really important to me to help take care of our veterans which this also accomplishes. There is a lot of hard work that took place, and I want to thank the staff for putting it together.”
The new building is a short distance north from the current Social Services building, and closer to the bus stops on Routes 9 and 47.
The renovation budget is not set but is expected to be around $6 million to $7 million.
The Cumberland County Improvement Authority is the project manager.
The VA clinic will be operational by Feb 1, 2020. The Social Services offices will follow.
