Cobb County has sold four surplus properties for a total of $1.6 million and is looking to unload more in an effort to save money.
The properties for sale include a single family brick home on Austell Road in South Cobb; a little less than an acre of undeveloped land on Atlanta Road near Smyrna; and a former senior daycare facility on South Fairground Street.
Three other properties, including a former fire station on Austell Road in south Cobb, an undeveloped plot on Lee Industrial Boulevard, and a house on Waddell Street in Marietta have either been leased or are involved in real estate transactions and exempt from open record laws, according to a county spokesperson.
County Chairman Mike Boyce said selling surplus property has been a priority of his since taking office, but he said the process for selling public property can be more complicated than private sales. The county first advertises the plot as surplus, then, if there’s interest, it hires a third party to appraise it. Then the property is put out for bid.
“If somebody came and said. ‘Here’s $5 million for property A,’ I can’t just sell it to him,” said Boyce, adding that this has caused frustration among some would-be buyers. “There is a cost for open and transparent government.”
The following properties have already been sold as surplus:
1200 Barrett Parkway - $1,075,000;
1678-1680 Atlanta Road - $224,350;
A property on Powers Ferry Road - $288,000;
Several parcels on Mableton Town Square - $52,415.
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