Council May Decide Fate of 2 Buildings

The City Council may decide Tuesday what to do with two spare city hall buildings occupying 34.8 acres of prime mid-city real estate.

Now that the real estate market has perked up, the Thousand Oaks council is being asked to decide whether to sell or lease the land at 401 W. Hillcrest Drive, rehabilitate the one building that hasn’t been repaired, subdivide the property or leave it alone.

The city-owned land just below Fireworks Hill was valued at nearly $14 million in the 1980s. That figure, however, was based on housing and commercial development rising on the land.

Now that the land isn’t being put to municipal use--the city hall has since been relocated--it may be time to try selling it again, possibly with some tough zoning restrictions, according to a report prepared by special projects manager Edward Johnduff.

The land is zoned for public and quasi-public uses. Its main tenant is the National Park Service, which leases space from the city in the south building.