NEWPORT BEACH : Man Wills Property to City Library, UCI

While city officials await word on an inheritance, they are wondering what, if anything, they will do with it.

Carl Ackerman of Fullerton willed four buildings in the McFadden Square area to the city, specifying that 40% of the proceeds from their sale or commercial use must be spent on the high-tech equipment equipment for the city library and for academic scholarships. And 60% would go for scholarships at UC Irvine, Deputy City Manager Ken Delino said.

Delino, who manages the city’s land holdings, said Ackerman’s trust attorney, Ken Hodges, informed him earlier this year that Ackerman was planning to leave property located at 2114 through 2122 W. Ocean Front and 106 through 110 22nd St. to the city.

An assortment of beach shops and bars occupy the first floors of three of the buildings, with apartments upstairs. The fourth building is a house, Delino said.

Because no formal offer of the grant deed has been made, city officials have not begun studying the proposition. But Delino said that deciding what to do with the property might be difficult based on the property’s revenue-generating capacity.

“If the only way to make money is to turn it into a big beer bar, we don’t want any part of it,” Delino said. “But if we can do something really nice and make lots of money we’ll be real excited.”

According to court records, Ackerman was under 24-hour care when he died of cancer on June 4. He left property and cash to a variety of organizations and cities, including Servite High School in Anaheim, St. Phillip Catholic Church in Fullerton, the city of Fullerton and two nephews and a niece.

Ackerman never married and has no children or surviving siblings.

In his will, Ackerman wrote that the city should operate the businesses if possible, and if not, sell them.