County still waiting for “swap” of Mebane land from Greensboro-based Koury Corporation
Alamance County’s leaders have kicked off the search for a contractor to build a new EMS base in Mebane even as the facility’s proposed site remains tied up in a proposed land swap with a Greensboro-based developer.
At the moment, the county is still waiting for the Koury Corporation of Greensboro to close on this 2.58-acre parcel, which a third party currently owns near the juncture of Smith Drive and the NC 119 Bypass.
The Koury Corporation had originally offered to acquire this property nearly two years ago in exchange for a 1.68-acre lot that the county had bought along South Third Street as a potential location for a new ambulance base to serve the fast-growing area in and around Mebane.
The Greensboro-based firm had been eyeing the county’s real estate as a potential entrance into a massive mixed-use development that it hoped to set up off of Trollingwood-Hawfields Road. The company’s representatives went on to portray this proposed land swap as a done deal when they appeared before Mebane’s city council in the final month of 2024 to obtain the requisite zoning for this 88-acre project.
[Story continues below graphic of the Koury development layout, with county-owned property highlighted.]
The city council ultimately approved a rezoning request that included the county’s property within the proposed development’s grounds. Yet, it wasn’t until the following September that the board of commissioners actually signed off on the land swap – with the caveat that the Koury Corporation must obtain the NC 119 parcel before the county gives up its holdings along South Third Street.
When the commissioners convened their latest regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday, assistant county manager Brian Baker conceded that the county still held the title and deed to the property along South Third Street. He nevertheless asked the commissioners to let the county’s administrators solicit bids for a contractor to design and build the new ambulance base along NC 119. Baker added that the final approval of this contract would hang on the county’s consummation of the proposed land swap with the Koury Corporation.
[Story continues below photo of future property to be “swapped” with county-owned lot on South Third Street.]
“We do not yet own this property,” he added. “But that is expected to be done in the next month or two…and I would not be comfortable signing a contract with a company until we have that land.”
The uncertain status of the facility’s proposed site proved a bit troubling for commissioner Ed Priola, who argued that the county should wait until this swap is a “reality” before it “moves the [bid] process forward.” His misgivings on this score were echoed by fellow commissioner Pam Thompson.
“I don’t want us to do anything unless we have the land to build it,” she declared.
Baker went on to assure the board’s members that they wouldn’t be expected to expend any funds until the real estate transaction is finalized – which he said has been held up by the Koury Corporation’s negotiations with the current property owner.
In the meantime, Alamance County’s manager Heidi York urged the commissioners to press ahead with the bid process so that the contract for the new EMS base can be hammered out before the county adopts its next annual budget in June. Although the county’s current budget already includes $500,000 for this facility’s design work, York said that she’d like her next spending plan to include a bank loan to cover its construction expenses as well as some funds to hire a 16-person staff for the ambulance base.
In the end, the board’s desire to move forward with this project overcame any scruples its members had about the property’s status.
“We know we have a need, and we know we have response time issues,” declared Steve Carter, the vice chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners. “I don’t see any reason for delaying it any longer.”
Thompson and Priola went on to join Carter, commissioner Sam Powell and Kelly Allen, the chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners in a 5-to-0 decision to begin soliciting bids for a company to design and construct the new ambulance base.
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