Lower Nazareth Purchases Foreclosed Business for $1.45 Million

The offices in the at 306 Butztown Road will -- eventually -- have a new home.

During a special public meeting Wednesday night, the township Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of 623 Selvaggio Drive for $1.45 million.

The 35,000-square-foot property on 2.8 acres had been owned by The property was foreclosed on last year, and it was up for sheriff’s sale.

According to township manager Timm Tenges, the township had been saving money for 10 years to build an 8,600-square-foot building on 90 acres near the corner of Newburg and Gremar roads. The township bought the land in 2001.

An architect and engineer had been working to create a facility -- estimated at about $2.2 million -- that would include municipal offices and, possibly, a public works office, a community center and a park.

The township never planned to borrow money or raise taxes, because money had been saved to cover all of the costs, Tenges reiterated.

“$1.3 million for 35,000 square feet versus $2.2 million for 8,600 square feet,” Tenges said. “For the money spent, we’re saving almost $900,000 for something that is far greater than we ever anticipated.”

The newly acquired building had been the headquarters for Selvaggio Enterprises Inc., and housed offices for Selvaggio Plumbing, Selvaggio Excavating, T & S Development and MNMS, LP (licensed partnership), according to selvaggioenterprises.com.

On www.northamptoncounty.org, Stephen F. Selvaggio was listed as the owner of 623 Selvaggio Drive. The property was foreclosed on by Wells Fargo Bank in Jan. 2011 with a debt of $2.11 million, plus additional costs of almost $245,000.

Selvaggio Plumbing and Heating Inc. went into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 2010, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. An involuntary petition for liquidation was filed on Oct. 19, 2010 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Reading, the publication stated.

Gary Asteak, the solicitor for Lower Nazareth, called Selvaggio “an honorable businessman who fell on hard times.”

Asteak added that the township did not want to stand in the way of Selvaggio possibly regaining the property. However, when it was clear the property would not be reclaimed, the township began to pursue, he said.

The final sale will be about $1.45 million, not including settlement costs, according to Asteak. The appraised value of the property came in at $1.66 million.

Tenges said the building still has tenants, so the township will wait until all leases expire. In the meantime, the rent provides a source of revenue for the township, he said.

As for the current municipal building, Tenges expects that the space can be used for:

• A community center
• The Lower Nazareth Sports Association
• A summer park program

“I believe there are many uses for this building,” Tenges said.