PORT ANGELES — The Border Patrol will buy the Eagles Aerie 483 lodge building at 110 S. Penn Street for a new Border Patrol station, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Thursday.
“We have agreed upon a price with the Eagles, the fraternal order that owns the Penn Street property we intend to acquire,” Richard Sinks, supervisory patrol agent for Customs and Border Protection’s Blaine sector, said Thursday in an e-mail.
“However, we do not anticipate closing on this property until early in the new calendar year, as we still have to complete the appropriate environmental compliance work, and that is still underway.”
The Border Patrol station, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties, is now headquartered in the Richard B. Anderson Federal Building at 138 W. First St. in downtown Port Angeles, but the facility has become too small since the number of agents has quadrupled to 25 since 2006.
Pili Meyer of Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty, who represents the Eagles, said Wednesday she had been notified by the Border Patrol’s Realtor, Karen Kilgore of Windermere Real Estate Sequim East, that Customs and Border Protection will buy the lodge building and property two miles east of downtown for the Eagles’ counteroffer price — an amount Meyer said she could not divulge.
The Eagles’ asking price was $1.99 million May 30 on 4.6 acres valued at $2.14 million for the building and land.
After the Border Patrol made an initial offer of $1.7 million, the Eagles’ membership voted Sept. 24 to sell the building and made a counteroffer.
“The message I am getting is that this is a done deal,” Meyer said Wednesday, adding that the purchase agreement must be signed by “four or five” government officials before it becomes final.
“The paperwork, which looks like the final paperwork, is churning its way through the labyrinth of government,” Meyer said.
Kilgore did not return calls for comment.
The Eagles club is looking for a new home to replace the 36-year-old building that has become too large and expensive to maintain for the club’s shrinking membership, lodge real estate committee member Kevin Wheeler said.
Membership has dwindled from a high of 3,000 several years ago to about 900.
“We have to move forward, and moving forward is finding another place to live and figuring out what we are going to build if we end up with just land,” Wheeler said.
“We are actively looking at properties and seeking people out.”
Meyer said she was befuddled by the federal government actions.
Federal officials agreed to the counteroffer in writing.
Without signing the document or having a signed agreement — or even paying earnest money — officials conducted site inspections, did environmental assessments and took bids from contractors for the project, budgeted at $8 million.
“This is a real inside-out transaction,” Meyer said.
“We have something the government has submitted as the final offer that incorporates the offer that was discussed but hasn’t been signed by anyone in the government,” she added.
“I’ve never had a transaction like this,” Meyer said.
“I’m stunned that it’s taken this long, but I guess that’s the way they work.”
On July 27, the Border Patrol sponsored an open house in Port Angeles to explain the need for a new facility, claiming its present quarters were overcrowded and that space was needed for 25 to 50 agents — the standard space requirement for new Border Patrol stations, the agency said.
The Border Patrol has grown from a staff of four in 2006, to 24 in April 2009, to 25 by August.
Customs and Border Protection has refused to provide arrest totals for the Port Angeles station, citing national security concerns, but has said there are no immediate plans to increase staffing.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also in the Richard B. Anderson Federal Building, also is moving to larger quarters, though not with the Border Patrol.
The General Services Administration, which is coordinating ICE’s relocation, is reviewing responses for requests for proposals for leased space in Port Angeles, GSA spokesman Ross Buffington said Wednesday.
Buffington would not comment on the number of proposals received or potential new locations.
“We don’t anticipate having a lease ready to sign before the start of the year,” he said.
________
Senior staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.