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Date: 12/26/2023
SUNDERLAND — The office building at 23 Plumtree Rd. fits in unobtrusively among the single family homes in a residential area off Route 116. When the property came on the market five months ago, listed at $2 million, it piqued the interest of town officials.
“We’ve been looking at it to potentially buy it for the town,” said Town Administrator Geoffrey Kravitz. “The thinking was that it could serve as the location for the South County Senior Center. It’s more than big enough, so it could also serve another purpose, either municipal offices there and find something to do with [Town Hall] or make it more of a community center with youth activities, something like that.”
The option has a lot of support, including from the selectboards of Sunderland, Deerfield and Whately. The Deerfield Board of Health offered a letter of support. Jennifer Remillard, director of the South County Senior Center, supports the location for a new center, which is currently housed in the Holy Roman Catholic Church in South Deerfield.
The center currently pays a total of $3,600 in monthly rent to the church and for office space in Sunderland. The Selectboard, while discussing the property its Dec. 18 meeting, used a monthly figure of $4,800.
Kravitz suggested an offer of $1.8 million for the property would be suitable. According to an online Remax real estate listing, the 3.46 acre property last sold in 2017 for $1 million. A Colebridge Realty Services online listing puts the building at 11,671 square feet.
The timing may not be right. Last year, Town Meeting authorized a debt exclusion of $275,000. Department heads keep reminding Kravitz of their capital needs, which always seem large.
“We already talked about health insurance impacting on the budget. We’ve talked about the Elementary School possibly needing a new roof. The fire chief mentioned that … we’re going to need a new fire truck, not to mention how expensive ambulances are,” Kravitz said. “It would be a wonderful senior center and a great use of that building. But … I wanted to raise the financial implications and how that might impact our ability to raise money.”
Assumption of debt for the building may make it more difficult for the town to secure optimal rates when borrowing for essential purchases. Selectboard member Krystal Drake-Tremblay pointed out that upkeep and maintenance may add expenses that make the project too costly.
“If the budget for the Senior Center is $4,000, all inclusive, and we find out that insurance, utilities, maintenance of the property, is already over $4,000 a month, that changes who we need to look at for a tenant there,” Drake-Tremblay said.
Kravitz wondered how the town would divide the monthly costs with a tenant. How would the expenses of common areas be divvied up? Costs for plowing, shoveling and mowing? Drake-Tremblay commented that building repairs always seem very costly on municipal buildings, roofs are never cheap, and Window World can’t just pop in a replacement unit.
Selectboard Chair Nathaniel Waring commented that the town may eventually see its costs paid by the tenant.
“What’s the impact on the average tax bill?” Waring asked. “Would we be recuperating any of that money from prospective tenants? … The profit from rentals could help pay the town’s share of the mortgage.”
The impact on the tax rate depends on the length of the mortgage on the property. After the meeting, Kravitz figured an increase of 23 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value if a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is taken on the property. A 15 year mortgage would increase assessments by 33 cents.
Discussion revealed there is a benefit to moving quickly. Office buildings the size of 23 Plumtree are not often for sale. The building appears to be in excellent shape. The three towns that share the senior center also received a grant for $100,000, to be used for a facilities upgrade. Kravitz said that money must be used by June 30.
“There was also discussion, not here but elsewhere, about how quickly can you do this?” Kravitz said. “Do we want to have a Special Town Meeting in Sunderland to approve the funds to do this? … I didn’t think we could move that quickly, but now that we have the appraisal I started talking to counsel.”
Waring commented that among residents he spoke with, the idea of the senior center at the 23 Plumtree location was given glowing reviews. Drake-Tremblay said residents who don’t care about the senior center won’t be convinced the town needs the building.
“The people who don’t care are the ones who also get a tax increase,” Drake-Tremblay said. “That’s the hard group to convince.”