Former Lynn library sold to developer

LYNN – The city closed on and sold the former Houghton Branch library at 831 Western Ave., to local developer Thomas L. Demakes for $259,000 Wednesday.With the sale, the building is now back on the tax roll and no longer the city’s liability.Demakes previously expressed interest in transforming the old library branch into a residential complex, but ran into a few roadblocks along the way with adequate parking for the site and zoning issues.City Council president Timothy Phelan said the city gave a number of extensions to Demakes and his attorney Thomas C. Demakis because there was a reported cloud on the title.”The law department worked feverishly to get the deal done and EDIC (Economic Development & Industrial Corporation) worked to include a vacant piece of land in the sale for parking that should alleviate the parking problem and make the roughly 3,000 square foot building more marketable.”Phelan said the sale was a long struggle, but the city finally got it done.”It’s such a beautiful old building, and this is just another small step for the city,” he said.All three library branches were placed on the auction block in 2006 and later sold after they were closed as the result of budget cuts.Demakes was the lone bidder for the building in 2007, and proposed to rehabilitate the building and transform it into an eight-unit dwelling.Prior to his bid for $299,000, Sokhoeun Pres was awarded a bid for $250,000 in 2006 to create a Cambodian Cultural Center.Pres withdrew her bid in November 2006 and the City Council reimbursed the $25,000 deposit she placed on the building and put it back out to bid.Demakes, who previously bid against Pres, won the second bid.