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Capitol West Issue Postponed

By Jenna Carlesso

February 11, 2011

The city's redevelopment agency postponed voting on the issue of whether to take the blighted Capitol West building through eminent domain until its March 10 meeting.

Sean Arena, the agency's chairman, said city officials need more time to negotiate with owners of the Myrtle Street property. The agency met Thursday to discuss the matter, but ultimately decided to put it off.

"We're under negotiations with the owners to see if we can work out a purchase price instead of going with eminent domain," Arena said. "If we can reach an agreement, that's the avenue we'll take."

City officials have said they've been unable to agree on a price for the building with Capitol West's owners.

Coleman Levy, an attorney for the owners, said recently that the city hasn't proposed "a price that's acceptable."

"We're happy to resolve this, but we're not looking to sell. They're the ones looking to buy," he said. "It's not critical to us."

Levy said his clients planned to meet with city officials to further discuss the issue.

"We want to sit down in good faith and see if we can come to a decision," he said. "If we can't, the city has other avenues it can try and we understand that and we'll deal with that accordingly."