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IRVINE : Original City Hall Sold for $2 Million

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The original City Hall has been sold to an unidentified buyer for $2 million in cash.

The real estate agent representing the buyer said he will reveal the identity of his client after the close of escrow, which is expected this week.

Irvine officials say the buyer plans to use the building for office space.

The building, on Jamboree Road and McGaw Avenue, was abandoned in November, 1988, after city officials moved to a newly constructed City Hall on Harvard Avenue and Jamboree. The old building was renamed the Multiservice Center and provided low-rent office space for about two dozen nonprofit agencies that have since relocated.

The city initially received a $2.248 million offer from the unidentified buyer. The City Council unanimously accepted a final $2.078 million purchase price for the 40,000-square-foot building last week. The lower price reflected increased rehabilitation costs, according to council members.

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The City Council voted in June to sell the building because of the estimated $500,000 cost of earthquake retrofitting and air conditioning repairs. The city was losing about $65,000 a year in operating costs at the site.

The building was appraised at $4.5 million during the 1980s, but its value had fallen by half when it was appraised again in July, 1993. The property was listed for sale at $2.4 million.

City officials are counting on the sale to help finance $6 million in potential interest charges from debt refinancing.

The debt restructuring will be needed if the county fails to disburse funds by July when $75 million worth of bond debts come due. The additional $4 million would come from an expected budget surplus and emergency reserve funds.

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