The city is looking to sell two adjacent vacant parcels on Fifth Avenue South, but with a caveat: start building on them within six months or surrender them back to the city. The council on Tuesday approved declaring the two lots near Fifth Avenue’s intersection with 23rd Street South as surplus. The city will now advertise for sealed bids to purchase the lots, requiring a minimum bid of $1,000 per lot. The Lowndes County tax assessor’s office records show the lots appraised at $1,800 each, but tax assessor appraisals are typically significantly lower than true market value. The conditions of the sale, per a resolution the council approved Tuesday, would require each lot’s buyer to begin single-family home construction there within six months after closing, completing that construction within 18 months. If the same buyer purchases both lots, construction must begin on the second lot within 12 months of closing, with completion in 24 months. If a buyer fails to meet those standards, the property would revert back to the city. “The thing is to develop the city,” Mayor Stephen Jones said. Jones said one person has “been calling me for the last year” interested in buying the property b
