Dorothea Dix's value is in the eye of the beholder

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CORRECTION

A story in Monday's City & State section about the possible sale of Dorothea Dix misspelled state Sen. Neal Hunt's first name.

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RALEIGH -- Earlier this month, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker pegged Dorothea Dix's worth as parkland at $10.5 million, a figure that was immediately derided by several state lawmakers who think the 306-acre site is worth much more.

While haggling over Dix's value is nothing new, the response to Raleigh's offer shows just how wide the gap remains more than three years after the state announced it would close the 150-year-old psychiatric hospital on a hill overlooking the city's central business district.

"I think there's folks who may be unrealistically low on the outside, but I also think there's folks here [at the legislature] who are unrealistically thinking they're going to get all this money, you know, $100 million, out of a market value," said Sen. Janet Cowell, D-Wake.

If a deal is to be struck between the city and the General Assembly, which must approve the sale of Dix, Cowell said it could involve a long-term payment scheme.

"I think the most likely scenario is some sort of lease-to-own setup," Cowell said. "That's certainly not a given, but that to me is the path I can see through."

Sen. Neil Hunt, R-Wake, who showed up at last week's Raleigh City Council meeting to voice his support for turning Dix into a park, also said leasing the property is a viable option.

"I think the city needs to be in a position to pay what the land's worth," said Hunt, who estimated its value at $40 million.

A price tag of $40 million to $50 million could make a long-term lease more likely, as that amount would make it hard for the city to purchase the property at one time.

It would also greatly affect the city's long-term financial plans to develop Dix.

Meeker and others behind the city's offer want to turn it into a "destination park." Such a project would require investing tens of millions of dollars over many years.

Dix Visionaries, a park advocacy group, has promised to raise more than $7 million from private donors, but much more will be needed.

Last week, Meeker sent a letter to Gov. Mike Easley reasserting the city's desire to buy Dix and offering to help in the selection of an appraiser. The governor's office said Easley was focused on the budget now and would further discuss the Dix matter at the appropriate time.

How an appraisal of Dix is conducted will be important.

Park advocates insist the property should be appraised as parkland -- not as land that could be sold to the highest bidder.

"It's very important that a distinction is made between [the campus being] sold to be commercially developed or to a public-private partnership that plans to invest millions in it," said Greg Poole Jr., president of Dix Visionaries.

Poole said he is open to the idea of having a public-private partnership lease the property.

"We could work with that," he said.

Parkland-based offer

While Raleigh's $34,000-an-acre offer has been widely panned, Meeker continues to insist it is realistic. As proof, he points to the average price-per-acre the city has paid for other tracts of parkland in recent years, which comes to about $23,000 an acre.

Given Dix's prime downtown location and its legacy as a mental health facility, few lawmakers are viewing a potential transaction as just another land sale. Some legislators have recommended that proceeds from Dix's sale go toward the Mental Health Trust Fund; that idea may tempt lawmakers to support a higher valuation.

Meeker and other park advocates say it is unrealistic to think money from the sale of Dix will significantly address the state's mental health needs.

"The mental health needs of the state will not be solved by any amount of revenue from the Dix hill property," Meeker said.

In the end, park advocates are hoping that the General Assembly's Wake County delegation can convince other lawmakers that Raleigh's offer for Dix makes the most sense, even if it's not the most lucrative.

"I'm sure they might get some huge amount," Cowell said. "But I don't get the sense that's what the people of North Carolina want, just some sort of developer free-for-all over there. There's still a sense of sacredness to the place."