Albert Lea council to vote on selling historic downtown buildings for $1

(ABC 6 News) – At its Oct. 9 meeting, the Albert Lea City Council will vote on development agreements for two historic downtown buildings.

As of right now, the city owns the top two floors of the Freeborn Bank Building and its neighbor the Jacobson Building on South Broadway Street. According to the city, the agreements would have the city sell both properties to local investment group Century Partners LLC for $1.

Century Partners states that it intends to renovate both buildings into restaurant, events and office space. The investment group has already leased the buildings for several months to start interior reconstruction.

The city purchased both buildings in 1998 to preserve downtown’s history; it would go on to spend about $2 million to update the buildings for private development, according to the city.

The parts of the Freeborn Bank Building was sold in 2018, before selling those parts to Century Partners to pay back $740,000 in economic developments loans from the city, according to the city.

According to city records, the city council previously approved tax increment financing up to $111,500 in June 2022 to help future developments.

The city council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9, held in the council chambers of Albert Lea City Hall.