Contact was finally made between Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy and the federal building's new owner Wednesday, with both sides agreeing to a sit-down within the next two weeks, when the developer from Austin, Texas, intends to be in town.

The news comes nearly a week after the Cape Girardeau County Commission voted to walk away -- at least temporarily -- from an attempted negotiation to buy the building, citing an inability to get a return phone call from the owner, Majid Hemmasi of RDRH Holdings Inc.

The two chatted only briefly after Hemmasi called Tracy late in the afternoon to let Tracy know he wasn't willfully ignoring him. The Southeast Missourian initially made contact with Hemmasi earlier in the day to find out why he wasn't giving Tracy a return call.

Initially, Hemmasi said that he had not received a phone call from Tracy since Hemmasi outbid the county to buy the building from the General Services Administration at online auction for $325,015. Later in the day, Hemmasi recanted a bit after talking with Tracy, saying that it was possible that he simply hadn't received Tracy's messages.

Hemmasi intended to fly to Cape Girardeau sooner, he said, but noted that he has been struggling with back problems. But he will be here within the next two weeks, he said, when he intends to look the building over and meet with brokers and the county commission.

"Our goal is to find a tenant," Hemmasi said. "I'm glad to meet with the county. If they want to buy the building we could work something out. If not, we'll see if lawyers want to rent it out or somebody else. It's nothing personal. We just want to come in and clean it up and keep it going. We want to be a part of downtown. We want to work things out so it's the best thing for everyone."

Hemmasi also agreed that he would sell to a government agency at a lower price than someone from the private sector, something he said the day after his identity was revealed as the building's new owner.

Tracy agreed that the county would have an interest in meeting with Hemmasi. But he found it odd, he said, to hear from Hemmasi a day after a newspaper article ran outlining the county's top bid to the GSA of $750,000 and earlier offers there were even higher. But Tracy has said it would be a mistake for the new owner to expect to get that amount from the county now. Tracy also said he called Hemmasi three times in an attempt to begin negotiations and cited the same number used by the Southeast Missourian to contact him.

Tracy said he made a call to Hemmasi from his office last Thursday. He also called him one Saturday from his cellphone, where he says he has programmed in Hemmasi's number. Tracy also described the "fire and security" nature of the business where Hemmasi houses his office.

"It's just odd that the sale closed a month ago and he never called the county," Tracy said. "He obviously has my number. He called me during the first online auction. Maybe his plan was to wait us out until the numbers came out. But if it was just poor communication between him and his secretary, that's nobody's fault, either."

Tracy said that he had no idea if negotiations would begin in earnest when Hemmasi comes to town. But he said there's no reason not to. Tracy also understands that the distance between Cape Girardeau and Austin also could have added to the problem.

"It's not like there's hard feelings," Tracy said. "He's not a local guy that I can walk in and talk to him about the building. So if he reaches out to us when he's in town, we'll see what happens."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO