Boynton Beach agency could come away with a loss on historic home sale

The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is looking to sell the historic home it purchased for $850,000 in cash in 2007 and is offering buyers up to $350,000 in incentives to take the 1,736-square-foot property off its hands. While the agency is not advertising a price for the home, known as the Magnuson House, its appraiser said in June that it is worth about $340,000 in the current market, so a sale would likely mean a significant loss for the CRA. Built in 1910 by Oscar Sten Magnuson, a Swedish immigrant whose wife, Eunice Benson Magnuson, was one of Boynton Beach’s first town clerks, the home, which has been vacant since the CRA picked it up three years ago, sits on one-third of an acre at 211 East Ocean Avenue. The agency said it has been in talks with around 16 prospective takers, including some who might turn the property into a restaurant or art gallery. The $350,000 would be an incentive for an operator of such an institution to renovate and build out the space. [Palm Beach Post]