The old Mirab Building, located on North Front Street, belongs to the Public Utilities Commission, and under the leadership of the former Chairman, John Avery, the PUC has signed an agreement to pay 10.3 million dollars for it.
It's in the news this week because the reports have emerged that the new Chairman, Dean Molina, is considering a reversal of this deal. But, is it a legitimate purchase, and did the PUC get value for money? Those are a few of the unanswered questions at this time, but to get out in front of potential controversy, Michael Bou-Nahra, called an impromptu press conference to provide context to this sale of his company's old properties. It is under some scrutiny because, at the time of the sale, Bou-Nahra's brother was a sitting commissioner at the PUC.
This evening at his office, Bou-Nahra invited members of the press to ask questions about this sale. Here's how that conversation went:
Michael Bou-nahra - Sold Properties to PUC
"The building was for sale for the past year or so. I was contacted by Mr. - one of the Directors from PUC about the building. We had a meeting. We spoke about it, and that's when the negotiations started, probably a couple of months prior to the contract."
"I gave them the pricing that I'm interested in selling it at. It was agreed upon. They went back to their board. They had their meetings. We negotiated a few items, and we agreed. That's how we had the agreement on December 5th."
"The contract that I did with PUC was for 10.3 million dollars. What people didn't mention is that consists of the old Mirab Building, and also another property next to the Belize Insurance Center. The old Mirab Building is about 21 thousand square feet. The property sits on 2 lots with about 20 thousand square feet of land. And I have also land next to Belize Insurance, which was a part of the deal. The 10.3 is for the 3 properties together."
"The agreement was for a deposit of 1.8 million Belize dollars. PUC had a property, or they had a property on the George Price Highway that they were trying to sell. They mentioned to me that they're selling it for 1.5 million, and that will be part of the downpayment. I said no problem, and back and forth negotiations. They keep telling me that it's coming, it's coming. It didn't come through. I offered to buy the property at a million dollars. They kept trying to sell it for 2 months, and they couldn't get a buyer. Finally, they agree to sell it to me as a deposit, as part of the deposit payment for a million."
