Nakagawa Building and neighboring structure just before demolition. Photo by Chris Pedigo

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - A Downtown Marysville apartment project is dead, two and a half years after a ten-unit apartment project was proposed for the former Nakagawa building property at 306 C Street and a city-owned lot next door.

Developers Weldon Bell and Sandra Adams have “determined they cannot proceed with the project,” according to city documents. They are forfeiting the development agreement that accompanied the purchase of the city lot at 308 C Street, and the city is poised to reacquire the property for $23,000. That’s the original sale price to Bell and Adams.

Reached Sunday night, Sandra Adams said “we have no plans at the moment” for the Nakagawa lot. It has been vacant since a decaying, two-story building was torn down in March of 2021. The city lot purchase and development agreement was signed in March of 2023, nearly two and a half years after Bell and Adams signed a letter of intent to acquire the city lot.

Originally slated for ten apartments in a two-story building, the project later became an 18-unit development. The parcel at 308 C Street extends from C Street west to Oak Street Alley. The city lot was part of Marysville’s various “redevelopment properties” owned by the former redevelopment agency when various downtown properties were acquired in the 1970s and a number of buildings were later demolished. The Nakagawa Building was built in 1857. The city lot once held a 1-story building built in 1893.

Marysville City Council had the reacquisition on its Tuesday night agenda (Oct. 21), and the acquisition was approved by the council that evening.