Fair Foundation Gifts City Downtown Property
Posted/updated on: November 16, 2010 at 12:59 pm
TYLER — The City of Tyler announced Monday that the R.W. Fair Foundation and the Fair estate have gifted two Downtown buildings and several other parcels of land to the City for use in future public private partnerships that will help with revitalization efforts. “We are very thankful to the R.W. Fair Foundation for making this generous gift that has the best interests of the entire community at heart,” said Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass. “Having assets that can be used to attract private reinvestment is a major advantage, particularly in these tougher financial markets.”
Of the two buildings located at 121 and 123 S. Broadway, one is currently vacant (the Lindsey Building), and one is occupied (The Fair Foundation Building). City officials say the City will continue the tenant relationships, as well as the existing property management contract, and intends to recognize and continue to promote the building as an energy center in support of recent industry growth initiatives. “This change in ownership should be transparent to the tenants in the Fair Foundation Building,” commented City Manager Mark McDaniel. “The Lindsey Building will be land banked for long-term future projects. Our efforts will be to look for opportunities to attract an investor to adaptively reuse the building that has been vacant for many years.”
Also gifted are parking lots located at the corners of Elm and Broadway/College. “Parking is a hot commodity in downtown,” added McDaniel. “Owning these lots, protecting this parking asset, and possibly leveraging it for additional parking are critical for the future development of downtown.”
“We are pleased to gift these properties to the City in honor of the entire Fair family,” said Barbara Fair, President of the R.W. Fair Foundation. “I would like to believe that Mr. R.W. and his late sons Wilton and James and daughter Martha would be proud to see their legacy live on and helping the revitalization of Downtown.” You can go to http://www.cityoftyler.org to learn more.
