MORGANTOWN – The Monongalia County Commission on Wednesday took receipt of a single $6 million offer to purchase the approximately 2.25 acres that’s been the longtime home of the Monongalia County Health Department.
It should come as little surprise that the lone offer was submitted by West Virginia University Hospitals.
The two sides have engaged in off-and-on talks regarding the property’s acquisition for years. The sticking point has always been that the county needed to get enough out of the property to get the health department set up somewhere else.
The commission posted notice of the property sale following its April 22 meeting with a cash purchase price equal to the greater of $6 million or 75% of the properties’ aggregated appraised value.
The property’s appraised value is $4,135,000 – 75% of that number is $3,101,250.
As per terms of the sale listing, WVU Hospitals has deposited $600,000, 10% of the purchase price, with the county’s escrow agent.
The commission is expected to take official action on the sale during its May 13 meeting.
The property in question is made up of the three parcels that contain the MCHD Building (453 Van Voorhis Road) and neighboring WIC Building (1000 Elmer Prince Drive).
The parcels sit between the main WVU Hospitals campus and the massive WVU Eye Institute and connected parking garage currently under construction at the corner of Van Voorhis Road and Elmer Prince Drive.
“The property is located, as you know, very conveniently to WVU Hospitals — Ruby, Children’s — on our campus,” WVU Medicine President and CEO Michael Grace said. “And we have always a need to enhance the health care services we provide to the community. At some point in the future, we are going to be able to do that through this transaction.”
Assuming everything moves forward, WVU will lease the property back to the county to accommodate the MCHD until the health department moves to its new location.
That move must occur by July 1, 2027.
According to Commission President Tom Bloom, WVU wants to have the MCHD buildings down and the property cleared prior to the opening of the new $233.5 million WVU Eye Institute complex.
As for where the health department is moving, it sounds as if an announcement on that front is imminent.
While they wouldn’t divulge the location, members of the commission said an offer agreement is being finalized.
Given the timeline and dollars in play, it stands to reason the county is not purchasing land with the intention of constructing brand-new facilities.
In other county news, the commission approved providing up to $30,000 in support of a potential NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament at Kendrick Family Ballpark at the Monongalia County Baseball Complex.
For it to matter, however, the Mountaineers need a strong finish, starting this weekend with a trip to Big 12-leading, and ninth-ranked, Kansas.
The 15th-ranked Mountaineers, who close out the season with a homestand against TCU (May 14-16), currently remain in contention to host the program’s first regional since 2019.
“This may be the kiss of death,” Commissioner Sean Sikora joked. “Because the last three times we’ve done this before, they haven’t needed to utilize it. So, let’s hope they have a good couple weeks and we actually need to spend that.”
