BATH

The commercial property on Park Street that is the subject of a city investigation is back on the market — for more than twice the $799,000 price Bob Smith of Phippsburg paid for it.

Bath resident Larry Scott, who complained last spring he was interested in the former hospital property but was shut out of the bidding process, informed The Times Record of the development Thursday night via email.

A check of the Sharon Drake Real Estate website confirmed that Keller Williams Realty is offering the building occupied by Southern Maine Community College for $1,650,000.

Smith, a developer, also confirmed the listing this morning, and said he is selling the property sooner than he normally would because of the negative publicity surrounding his transaction with the city.

“It’s affecting me and my wife,” said Smith, who said he has improved about 70 pieces of property in the area, including subdivisions, commercial property and residential. “I’m sick and tired of all the negative publicity. I’ve never gone through this type of thing.”

The City Council endorsed the $799,000 sale of the building — without public notice — in April. Critics said the building is worth far more, pointing to the city’s own $6.5 million tax assessment.

The property is listed as a prime office location in Bath, multitenanted, and updated with “state-of-theart wiring.” The building is especially well-suited for classroom settings, has ample parking and good cash flow, the listing continues.

Smith added that, with the property back on the market, anyone interested before before he bought it from the city has another opportunity.

“This gives Larry Scott a chance to buy it,” he deadpanned.

Scott, who criticized the original selling price, wrote in an email to city officials “it would seem that a potential profit of $851,000 in a four-month period should give you pause to rethink your earlier evaluations.”

“With the $5,000 down payment, a return of 170.2 times your original investment in four months gives a return of over 510.6 times your cash investment per annum.”

The tax assessment of the property put the value at $6.5 million, a figure that city officials have said is inflated. Some city officials claim that the city did well by selling a piece of property that was going down in value and required costly repairs.

The revelation comes two days after the City Council on Wednesday night appointed retired judge Robert Crowley to investigate the transaction.

Councilors agreed to pay up to $7,500 to investigate the sale of the former Bath Hospital at 9 Park St., now the Mid Coast Center for Higher Education.

Wednesday night’s decision to hire Crowley was unanimous, after solicitor Roger Therriault revealed that several candidates had responded to proposals for the job.

Councilor David Sinclair said Thursday he is confident of Crowley’s ability to perform this important task.

“I am 100 percent confident that he will do a sterling job for the city,” said Sinclair, a lawyer who said he has never argued a case in front of Crowley.

Of “utmost importance,” Sinclair continued, is the ability to dig into all the details surrounding the controversy.

There is no specific timeline yet in place, Sinclair said.

“It would be artificial to impose an arbitrary frame,” he said. “It should be timely, but we won’t rush the judge into it.”

Crowley told the council in a letter that he would take on this responsibility only if he is authorized to decide how the investigation should proceed.

Michael Wischkaemper, a retired lawyer and critic of the city’s sale of the building, spoke at length after the motion to hire Crowley, and agreed with the motion.

“I think it’s great,” Wischkaemper said Thursday. “I probably would have chosen him from among 15 people. Given the reputation of this judge, I think he’ll do the job.”

Wischkaemper also said Thursday that, during all the back-and-forth with city officials, he never had information on the value of the property — until recently.

Recent disclosures, he said, show that Smith made a $5,000 down payment and that the bank provided a $794,000 loan.

“A bank won’t loan more than 80 percent of the value of commercial property,” he said, “so that property had to be worth at least $1 million.”

Crowley, who retired in 2010, practices dispute resolution at the law firm of Kelly, Remmell & Zimmerman in Portland.

Crowley did not return calls seeking comment on the probe Thursday.

lgrard@timesrecord.com