Jefferson County commissioners have abandoned plans to buy the former Jefferson Community School building in downtown Port Townsend and convert it to housing for the homeless.

County officials were still awaiting an appraisal for the building to be finished, but noted that without an agency in line to manage the facility, the enterprise would be too much for the county to take on.

Commissioners started looking at a potential purchase of the historic building, across the street from Memorial Athletic Field in Port Townsend, in July as a possible place for transitional supportive housing to serve families and individuals.

At last week’s meeting of the board of county commissioners, officials noted that the appraisal for the property had not yet been finished. The county had earlier hired Integra Realty Resources, a Seattle-based real estate appraiser, to conduct appraisals on the Jefferson Community School building property and a property on Mill Road that the county eventually purchased for a homeless shelter. 

Commissioner Greg Brotherton said he wasn’t wedded to the idea of buying the old school building on Quincy Street.

“I don’t have a strong opinion. I still think that it’s a pretty appealing building,” Brotherton told his fellow commissioners. “And, of course, housing is a big issue.”

“I don’t think the county is at the point that we could undertake project management of a substantial repurposing of a building,” he added.

“We could do other things with that money, I think, more effectively,” Brotherton said.

That said, the commissioner continued, it seemed he actually did have a guiding opinion. Brotherton recalled an earlier conversation with the appraiser who said the price for the property was a bit steep.

“I think we should probably cut bait,” he said.

Getting a strong service provider was key to the project, added Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour.

And that was currently lacking.

“Unless someone comes rushing forward raising both hands, saying ‘I really want to do this,’ I don’t see how we as a county would do it,” Eisenhour said.

Brotherton said the purchase of the property would be at least $2 million, along with installing sprinklers in the building and other modifications.

Other necessary improvements would include a commercial kitchen, dishwasher, and upgrades to water and sewer infrastructure.