The sale of Kenai’s bowling alley to Anchorage-based real estate consultant Dean You, which the Kenai City Council approved Jan. 18, was not finished by its closing date of Jan. 19, according to Kenai city attorney Scott Bloom.
With the sale failing to close, negotiations between Kenai administrators and You, as well as one competing offer for the property, will continue. The city keeps details, including the identity of the other prospective buyer, confidential while negotiations take place.
The city acquired the former AlaskaLanes bowling alley in a debt settlement after it went out of business in fall 2015, and has been trying to lease or sell it since February 2016. You has been negotiating with the city for the land and building, stating that he intends to continue operating the bowling alley, since August 2016. Bloom told the Kenai City Council in October 2016 that You was still securing financing for the purchase and sought more time.
The Jan. 18 deal would have sold the bowling alley to You for $450,000, of which You has already paid $5,000 of a $20,000 earnest payment.
Without further direction from the Kenai City Council, the Kenai administrators negotiating the sale will not be able to drop the price in the offer given to You, though they can adjust the terms of financing if it is in the city’s favor, Bloom said.
Reach Ben Boettger at ben.boettger@peninsulaclarion.com.