CLAREMONT — The Governor’s Executive Council voted unanimously Wednesday to sell a vacant state office building at 17 Water St., to the city for $700,000.
Last year, City Manager Yoshi Manale made the offer to buy the building from the state, which vacated it in 2023.
In November, the council approved a resolution for a loan agreement for the purchase price that includes a first-year interest payment of $33,000.
Manale can now proceed with the closing on the property, Mayor Dale Girard said Thursday.
At the next council meeting on Wednesday, March 12, the council will discuss how it will proceed with the next steps.
The four-story brick building on the Sugar River is 32,750 square feet and was constructed in the 1900s as part of the Monadnock Mills Complex. It is assessed at $1.4 million.
The state took possession of the building in 1980 and after completing renovations moved offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles and Health and Human Services there in 1983. The DMV left several years ago and HHS closed its offices after water pipes broke and caused flooding in February 2023.
State law requires that the city be given the right of first refusal to purchase the building.
Manale has said owning the building will give the city control over possible redevelopment, which could include office space, housing or a hotel.
“It is about controlling our own destiny,” Manale said last November.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
