County staff: Dinic property sale advancing; public health space remains biggest relocation challenge

County facilities staff updated the Josephine County Board of Commissioners on June 9 that the Dinic property sale remains in due diligence with a July 22 deadline and an anticipated closing on or before Aug. 21. Staff said the buyer’s contract includes leasebacks for public health, facilities and planning functions, allowing department moves to occur in coordination with the sale timeline.

Facilities staff and Commissioner Martin reported site visits to county-owned properties and available spaces; they said public health will be the most difficult department to relocate because it needs medical-appropriate space. Staff noted the N Street property is a potential fallback: it would be used primarily as warehouse space, and reactivating coolers and related systems for forestry use would cost on the order of $100,000. Staff said they prefer to identify an off-site leased space suitable for public-health operations rather than retrofit the N Street site for offices.

County staff emphasized there is time to find an appropriate location while the buyer completes due diligence mid-July. The board directed staff to continue searching county inventory and external leased options and to report back with further recommendations.