County finds buyer for adjacent property

Triko Enterprises is formally buying the former nursing home this week.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- While Hill View Manor will formally pass to private owners this week, county commissioners say they also have a buyer interested in the adjacent property.
"I would call it a very viable offer," said Commissioner Dan Vogler.
Commissioner Steve Craig said the offer is well within the $475,000 appraisal price the county expected to receive for the more than 20 vacant acres in Shenango Township.
Craig and Vogler said they couldn't reveal the name of the person who made the offer, but Vogler called the buyer "very reputable."
Sale in September
The land and the building had been for sale for several years. The county finally sold the former nursing home building and 14 acres surrounding it at an auction in September to Triko Enterprises of McKees Rocks for $190,000.
But county commissioners rejected Triko's $130,800 bid for the additional vacant land and continued to market it.
Vogler said the most recent offer for the land came last weekend while he and fellow commissioner, Ed Fosnaught, were away at a conference. They were expected to talk to the county solicitor about the matter.
Vogler said commissioners have not decided what will be done with the sale proceeds from the building and the adjacent land, but he would like to see it used for capital expenses.
"Our feeling is the money is derived from the sale of that asset and should be earmarked for capital needs," he said.
Vogler said an example of a capital need might be some renovation at the government center to better meet the space needs of some departments.
No firm plans yet
It's still unclear what the new owners of Hill View Manor will be doing with that space after the sale is final this week.
Helen Triko, company president, said in a telephone interview last week the company had not crystallized plans for the facility and the land, but it is expected to make some decisions early next year.
"That property isn't something you do overnight," she said. "It sits on a number of acres. You really have to do an overall plan and look at the zoning in the area."
Triko Enterprises has bought former school buildings and turned them into marketable housing in Coraopolis, Pa., Triko added.
cioffi@vindy.com