iTech owner Mike Williams speaks to members of the Parkersburg Urban Renewal Authority during a meeting Tuesday in City Council chambers at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG – Acting as the Urban Renewal Authority, members of Parkersburg City Council voted to table an offer by a neighboring business to purchase a vacant downtown lot, with some saying the offer was too low.

The offer of $3,000 for 318 Fifth St. came from Mike Williams, the owner of iTech, which moved into the renovated Parkersburg Office Supply building about seven years ago. Williams told URA members iTech needs space for a retail location and deliveries of large equipment. The company has acquired five other businesses since moving to the site and grown from four employees to nearly 30, he said.

“This gives us the ability for further expansion,” Williams said.

Williams’ application indicated a planned $200,000 investment in building a single-story brick building and the addition of 10 jobs over two years.

“I’m always looking at that, thinking, ‘Who in the world is going to want that property,’ so this is great,” Councilman Zak Huffman said.

But the offer gave some URA members pause when compared to the $50,000 the authority spent to acquire the property via eminent domain and $146,000 to demolish it.

“To me, that makes it look like a $3,000 offer is really low,” council President Mike Reynolds said.

Councilwoman Wendy Tuck said she appreciates iTech but felt like the $3,000 price was subsidizing its development.

“Whenever there’s a real estate deal, you negotiate to find a fair price,” she said.

Williams asked how long the property had been for sale and if it had received any other offers. The demolition was completed in February 2024, and Development Director Ryan Barber said there had been no offers.

“It’s worth what the market’s going to pay,” Williams said.

Councilman Roger Brown pointed to the URA’s sale in 2024 of the former Economy Inn property on Seventh Street to the Astorg family of automotive dealerships for $200,000 after spending more than $800,000 to acquire and demolish the property.

“I think we’re cherry picking,” he said.

Reynolds had other fruit in mind, calling the comparison “apples to oranges” and saying the hotel was a drain on city resources, including law enforcement.

Williams noted the building at 318 Fifth St. was acquired and torn down because bricks were falling off of it, among other problems.

Members voted 8-0 to table the offer until their October meeting.

They also took the unusual step of voting 8-0 to reject an offer of $100 for a lot at 1418 Covert St. to be used as a yard extension by neighboring property owner Aaron Gaskins. Often, no motion is made to take up an offer if members don’t intend to accept it, or a motion made and seconded to accept an offer is voted down.

“I’d probably make a motion that we just put a big red bow on it and just give it to him … if we’re going to sell it for $100,” Reynolds said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.