Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Building Sold Without Knowledge of Asbestos

In November of 2009, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin officials agreed to sell a six-story building and the 13-plus acres surrounding it to Jos. Schmitt & Sons for $400,000.

The building complex, comprised of north-facing and south facing buildings, was once the site of Sunny Ridge Nursing Home, built by Jos. Schmitt in 1971. But now representatives of the company that wants to buy the building from Jos. Schmitt, after his firm performs the renovation, are saying that the building contains asbestos. As a result, they want the county to reduce the price by at least $66,000.

According to Sheboygan County Counsel Carl Buesing, county officials were not aware of the asbestos when they set the initial price, in spite of the fact that they had contracted, and paid for, an asbestos evaluation.

If an agreement on price can be reached, the building will eventually fall under the ownership of St. Paul, Minnesota-based Real Estate Equities, which plans to convert the space into senior housing.

However, in order to do so, either Jos. Schmitt or Real Estate Equities will have to hire a professional asbestos remediation firm to remove the recently discovered asbestos from the heating plant. At least $10,000 of the $66,310 will go to cover the cost of consulting fees on the best way in which to do that.

Real Estate Equities plans to spend about $3.5 million to renovate the north building into 42 senior housing units. This building currently costs the county about $200,000 a year to maintain, which is a drain on county finances, since the building produces no leasing fees or taxes.

County officials agreed, in closed session, that any firm purchasing the building would likely want similar price concessions, and so agreed to make a counter offer to pay for half the cost of asbestos remediation, with the caveat that the funds come from the building purchase price and not from other county funds.

The south building of the complex was sold for $1.1 million in 2001 to another Minnesota-based firm, and leased to Health Dimensions, which operates it as Sunny Ridge Health and Rehabilitation Center.

Because the buildings share the same, asbestos-contaminated heating system, extra care will have to be taken during remediation. This means notifying county and/or and regional and state environmental authorities 10 days in advance to obtain approval of the project and the remediation firm, then enclosing the area, operating negative air-pressure devices to prevent asbestos fibers entering the HVAC system or surrounding areas, using HEPA-rated filters on dedicated vacuum cleaners to remove dust and debris, and performing intermittent and final air quality sampling to determine that the air is free of asbestos fibers.

Asbestos is the only recognized cause of asbestosis, a respiratory disease incurred after long exposure to asbestos. It is also the only known cause of mesothelioma, a uniquely slow acting and generally lethal cancer of mesothelial tissues.

Real Estate Equities, which plans to hire Jos. Schmitt for the renovation, has said they will also add commercial space to the building's lower floor, and build homes on the 13 acres around it.

Source: Sheboygan Press

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