Preservation of open space is becoming increasingly important to many communities. Washington State University (WSU) understands this, but also understands its duty to the taxpayers of the State of Washington to maximize the value of its assets. In an effort to balance these two needs, WSU will offer “green space sensitive” properties to local entities prior to marketing them publicly. If a property is deemed green space sensitive by the WSU Real Estate Council, the process followed by the Real Estate Office will be as follows:
- Obtain survey.
- Obtain appraisal for highest and best use (minimum of one appraisal if property is valued at more than $500,000, additional appraisals are optional).
- Notify the local community of WSU’s intention to sell the property by advertising in the local newspaper the date, time, and location of a public meeting. The purpose of the public meeting is threefold: 1) to collect input from the local government and citizens as to the impact of a sale by WSU; 2) to communicate WSU’s sale process and provide relevant property details (survey, appraisal summary); and 3) to encourage local governmental organizations (City and County in which property is located) and non-profit organizations interested in preserving open space to indicate their interest to WSU in purchasing the property. This policy does not apply to individual citizens, only governmental entities or non-profit conservation organizations.
- Governmental entities or non-profit conservation organizations will have 30 days from the date of the public meeting to execute a purchase and sale agreement with WSU and to pay a 5% cash earnest money deposit or present a purchase plan for WSU review and acceptance. The purchase price will be set by WSU. Upon execution of the purchase and sale agreement, buyer will have a 30-day due diligence period in which to inspect the property to determine its suitability for the intended purpose. If the buyer is not satisfied with the results of its inspection or is unable to obtain financing, buyer may terminate the agreement by delivering written notice of its intention to terminate at any time within the due diligence period and the earnest deposit will be returned to buyer. If the buyer fails to notify its intention to terminate in writing within the due diligence period, then the agreement will expire at the end of the due diligence period.
- To avoid land speculation by the non-profits interested in preserving properties for open space or by governmental organizations, WSU will be given a 50 year retained interest in any appreciation of value in excess of the purchase price in the event of a later sale by the buyer.
- If no purchase and sale agreement has been executed or a purchase plan submitted within 30 days of the public meeting or a purchase and sale agreement fails within the due diligence period, WSU will market the property to the general public on the most favorable terms to WSU.
Approved by Budget Council on June 16, 2003
Any questions regarding this policy should be directed to Mel Taylor, 335-5524.
