The Village Board has been talking about the current Brown Deer Library’s fiscal challenges since 2014, including a possible relocation of the library. The topic of relocating the library stems from a recommendation in the Village’s Comprehensive Plan from 2010. View a timeline of the discussion (PDF).
Appraisal
While staff did not spend several thousand dollars to do a formal appraisal, we engaged our certified assessor to provide feedback on the building’s value, proposed sale price, and current market valuations. Through due diligence with our assessment team, we learned the following:
- March 27, 2012 - Building sold for $1,435,000
- August 22, 2014 - Building sold for $800,000 (distress sale to liquidate assets).
- The assessed value in 2017 - $1,012,000
- The average office building and land space in Brown Deer is currently valued at $57.81 per square foot. This would put the value of the building at roughly $1,792,572.
- Other Building in the area were looked at for value. For example, the U.S. Bank building across the street, it’s smaller and was built 23 years before the Westbury Bank building, assessed at $1,380,000. The newly constructed Aldi Grocery store sits on one acre of land and is approximately 18,000 square feet. It’s assessed at $2,373,000.
- The seller shared a formal independent appraisal with comparable buildings. This showed the value of the building at $3,000,000.
Inspection
The Village performed a professional inspection of the building and found it to be a solid structure, "built like a tank". The following professionals looked at the building from top to bottom before purchasing the building.
- Kirk Radtke (Commercial Building Inspector)
- Jon Wallenkamp (Registered Architect
- Kueny Architects (Structural Engineer)
- Matthew Maederer (Village Engineer)
Here are the facts about the purchase of the building that was given to the entire Village Board:
- The Seller listed the building at $3,000,000 based on the appraisal.
- The Seller gifted to the Village $1,500,000, one‐half of the asking price of the building.
- The Village paid $1,500,000 for the building and 1.66 acres of land.
There was no rush for the Village Board to purchase this building. The seller wanted to write‐off the $1,500,000 as a charitable donation to the Village of Brown Deer and requested the Board make the decision before the end of the year. In exchange for his generous gift, the building seller asked only that we install a plaque commemorating the life of his sister, who was an avid reader and book lover. The seller will supply the plaque to the Village. This was not a pressured sale.