Atascadero group scrambles for donations in bid to save Printery from tax auction

An Atascadero nonprofit group working to restore the historic Printery building is doubling down on efforts to purchase the landmark before it’s put up for sale at a public tax auction.

The Atascadero Printery Foundation is trying to raise $350,000 by Jan. 5, which members hope will convince the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to object to the building’s sale and prevent it from going to auction in May. So far, the group has raised about $30,000. It began fundraising about a month ago.

The Printery Foundation cannot object to the sale, but a taxing body such as the Board of Supervisors or the city of Atascadero could intervene, stop the sale and temporarily purchase the property. The taxing body could then sell the Printery to the nonprofit group, which wants to turn it into a community center.

The Foundation acknowledges its goal — raising $320,000 in less than two weeks — is a tall order.

Karen McNamara, president of the Printery Foundation, said the group is hoping to gather as much as it can to demonstrate to the county that it’s serious about the effort. She said reaching half of the target through pledges or donations would be a strong showing.

Atascadero landmark

The Printery, a registered historic landmark, was built in 1915 by Atascadero founder E.G. Lewis. It was last owned by Kelly Gearhart, a former developer and Citizen of the Year who filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and was convicted of fraud in 2015.

The 19,354-square-foot building at 6351 Olmeda Ave. is buried under more than $240,000 in back taxes. It was badly damaged in the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake and has been a vacant hub for vandals and shelter-seekers for years.

McNamara said the building’s deed includes terms requiring the owner to redevelop the structure. She estimated a total renovation would cost at least $9 million.

McNamara said she and others want to keep the Printery from being auctioned off because they’re concerned a developer unfamiliar with the state of the building could purchase it and continue to leave it vacant.

“If someone bought it, they would not have done their homework on it,” she said.

The Printery was set to be auctioned in May, but San Luis Obispo County Auditor-Controller Jim Erb pulled the building from the list of structures to be sold. The county no longer has that option because of state laws governing tax sales, said Gordon Eiland, the county’s tax division manager.

A property must remain in tax default for five years before it can be sold, Eiland said. After that time, the county has four years to auction it off — in the Printery’s case, that deadline is July 2017. The next tax auction is set for May, and the minimum bid for the Printery will likely be about $280,000, Eiland said.

McNamara hopes the group’s fundraising will show 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold and other board members that the nonprofit will have enough financial support to purchase the building from the county.

“We believe there are a lot of people who want that building restored,” McNamara said.

Arnold said she’d like to see the Printery go to the group, which she thinks would put the proper effort into restoring it. She said a fixed-up Printery would nicely complement Atascadero’s City Hall, which also required renovations after the 2003 quake.

“It would really enhance that historical corridor there,” Arnold said.

The Jan. 5 timeline would allow the nonprofit to get its proposal on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for a vote ahead of a late February intervention deadline, Eiland said. Terms must be worked out between the Printery Foundation and the county before that time in order for the intervention to take place.

If the Printery Foundation doesn’t raise enough money by its deadline, McNamara said the group will shift its focus to gathering funds for the May auction.

“We’ll just continue to raise every dollar we can,” she said.

This story was originally published December 23, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Atascadero group scrambles for donations in bid to save Printery from tax auction."