Lincoln Electric System employees won't be moving to their new home in far southeast Lincoln until sometime in 2021, but that's not stopping the utility from getting a jump on selling its downtown building.
LES on Thursday issued a request for proposals to potential interested developers to purchase the building, which it has occupied since 1987.
The six-story office building at 11th and O streets was built in 1907. LES did extensive renovations before moving in and won a Downtown Lincoln Association award the next year.
LES has set a minimum bid of $3.6 million for the property. The Lancaster County Assessor's Office values the building at just over $3 million.
LES is building a new service center and headquarters building at 98th Street and Rokeby Road, a project that is expected to cost more than $100 million. The service center is expected to be complete next year, with the headquarters building projected to be done in early 2021.
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LES also has an operations center at 27th and Fairfield streets that will remain open.
Kelley Porter, an LES spokeswoman, said it is not unusual to sell a building so far in advance.
"Selling the building now locks in a buyer to avoid future marketing issues," Porter said in an email.
She said LES does not plan to sell the building early and lease it back. Whoever buys the building will not be able to close on the purchase until sometime in 2021. The purchase agreement puts the closing at no later than Dec. 31, 2021.
Bids are due by July 23, with a proposed bid award date of Aug. 15.
Kent Thompson, who owns Thompson Realty Group, said the long time between purchase date and closing date is unusual and is likely to limit the pool of potential buyers.
Thompson said a lot can happen in two years, including big changes in the market or changes in the financial situation of the buyer.
However, he said it is a good strategy by LES to sell the building as early as possible.
Because LES is owned by the city, it must go through the process of declaring the building as surplus so it can be sold. It submitted an application last month to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission, which is tentatively scheduled to hold a public hearing on the request on June 20. The City Council also will have to approve the surplus property designation.
Those are basically a formality, however, as LES has no plans to continue to use the downtown building and the city would have no reason not to allow it to be sold.
Because it is downtown, the building would be eligible for tax-increment financing to aid in its redevelopment.
Urban Development Director David Landis, in a letter accompanying the LES surplus request to the Planning Commission, said selling the building for redevelopment purposes is "consistent with the redevelopment plan for the area."