Supervisors Vote This Morning On Sale Of 610 Court Street

When the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors approves the sale of 610 Court Street to Martinez this morning, it will bring closer to fruition a dream long held by a number of people to turn a historic building into a monument of sorts, one that signals a wedding between a bright past and a bright future.

But the dream has not come true just yet. And the building the city purchases today for $378,000 is hardly a historic one. The property known as 610 Court St. was built in 1961, and in 1982 was home to the Public Defender’s Office. In 2008, those offices were moved and the building has sat vacant since.

But the building next door, at 630 Court St., is another matter. It is a building of historic significance, built in 1926, was home to the Contra Costa Gazette and other publications of Sen. William Sharkey. It was purchased by the city in 2005, and since then several attempts by the city to sell it for use as a restaurant have fallen through. Last year, Southport Land & Commercial Co. agreed to consider purchasing 630 Court St. and turn it into a restaurant and offices. But to make it work, the company needed 610 Court as well, for use as offices and additional kitchen areas.

At first, the county was not interested in selling 610 Court St., and it appeared as though the deal would fall through yet again. But negotiations were finally successful, and this morning the board will approve the sale of 610 to the city, which, since it’s a government agency, has the right of first refusal to public buildings.

But, according to City Manager Phil Vince, the city will turn around and sell the building to Southport.

Let’s hope that really happens. The city doesn’t need to own its own city block of vacant buildings, including one that needs seismic retrofitting, historic though it may be.

Southport renovates historic buildings and finds new life for them. That’s what it does. So if the deal goes through, everyone wins. This will score points for the council, two of whom face re-election this year, and will help add to a sense of hope for a rebirth of businesses downtown. And it will show that such a thing can be done without tearing down Martinez history in the process.

So let’s keep our fingers crossed, folks. The board approval of the sale this morning is an important step in the right direction. But it is just that, a step. The journey is far from over.