City Contemplating Acquisition of Dinneen Dealership Building - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

City Contemplating Acquisition of Dinneen Dealership Building

The City of Cheyenne is considering paying about $300,000 more than the appraised price to house it's new public safety administration building.

The administration building would be housed in the old Dinneen Pontiac Dealership. Owners John and Jim Dinneen took city council members on a tour of the building to show them first hand what they would be paying for.

When the city began looking for a building as part of their $25 million plan for a Public Safety Administration Building they came to the Dinneen's to see if they would be interested in selling their building."

"This building provided some very, very desperately needed amenities," said Lt. Mark Munari of Cheyenne Police.

Last August, the public voted to approve the spending of $2.2 million for a building. Then in October, the Dinneen Dealership Building was appraised at $1.655 million dollars. But the Dinneen's believe it's worth a little more than that.

"We would be willing to sell the property for $1.986 million," said John Dinneen, owner of the building.

They feel it's not just an old downtown building, but also a development site and things like ample parking and a roof that's ready to have floors added to it are assets that weren't considered during appraisal.

"Those things, while they don't exist and don't add value to an appraisal in the formal, normal way. They do have value to the right user and that's kind of the issue to me," Dinneen said.

City Council member, Annette Williams, took the tour on Saturday and came away impressed with the potential of the building.

"I was surprised. Seeing from what the outside looks like comparable to the inside of the building and I'm impressed with the inside of this building and the structure," Williams said.

Williams says she still has a decision to make, but she would be comfortable spending the money on the Dinneen Building as opposed to any alternative she's seen.

"I think I would feel comfortable at this time because it is needed and if we were to build a new structure it would cost even more," Williams said.

The purchase of the Dinneen Building would be part of the $25 million the public approved for Proposition 2 in November. Lt. Mark Munari says paying what the Dinneen's are asking would actually be less than what the city had budgeted for the purchase of a building, which means the project could end up costing less than $25 million.

"We fully expect that this project will be completed within budget," Munari said.

John Dinneen says he'll give out tours on Monday, March 11 to anybody from the public who would like to see the building at 416 West 17th Street. He says you can also call him at 307-221-6452 to set up a time to take a tour as well as look at the appraisal figures.