County Giving Away 4.2 Acres in Lake Magdalene

Hillsborough County Commissioners are expected to trade away 4.2 acres of land in Lake Magdalene when they meet Wednesday, July 17.

They won’t walk away empty handed from the deal with the Hillsborough County School Board.

In exchange for the Lake Magdalene land, which serves as the home of the Dorothy Thomas School and sits on the campus of the county's Children's Services agency, the county will receive three different pieces of land that add up to about 12.3 acres.

The county’s acreage is valued at $765,000 and the land the school board will give up in exchange is valued at $683,000. Even though there’s an $82,000 difference in the value, county staffers say the deal is well worth it.

“The lands the County will receive will allow design flexibility and expansion for a future library; redevelopment and enlarging of a fire station; and, better management of a park,” the agenda item for Wednesday’s meeting reads.

The school board has long leased the site of the Dorothy Thomas School from the county. The deal would give it ownership of the property.

No cash will be exchanged as part of the swap.

One of the pieces of property the county is receiving will be used to redevelop Fire Station No. 4 in the Armwood area on its existing site, the agenda item states. This saves the county from having to seek out a larger, potentially “more expensive site.”

Another parcel is located adjacent to Muller Elementary School in North Tampa. It will “allow for design flexibility and future expansion of the proposed University Area Partnership Library.”

The final parcel of land is at Rubin Padgett Park, which is in the Brandon area. The county has operated the sports complex there for years.

Work on the library and fire station are already funded by the county, said spokesman Willie Puz. Preliminary design on the library is expected to begin in about two months with completion of construction expected in December 2015.

Puz said the Armwood fire station be complete in 2015.

The commission meets at 9 a.m. July 17 at County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.

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