Wareham Redevelopment Authority members agreed to explore selling a vacant building at 4 Recovery Road during their meeting Oct. 29.

The building is owned by the Redevelopment Authority and is located in the Town of Wareham Industrial Park, located off Cranberry Highway in West Wareham. The building underwent about $160,000 in grant-funded renovations back in 2016, despite the fact that, at the time, members of the Board of Selectmen expressed frustration at using funds for an empty building.

“I think it’s a terrible waste of government money that should not have gone this far,” said Selectman Peter Teitelbaum in 2016 when the grant funds were first approved.

In December 2018, there were signs that the renovations might have paid off. The CFO of Boston-based company National Labs announced plans to open a testing lab for recreational and medical marijuana products at 4 Recovery Road. But those plans later fell through.

“If the testing lab isn’t going to happen at 4 Recovery, hell, it’s the best time in the world to sell a piece of real estate,” said Town Administrator Derek Sullivan. 

Judith Whiteside, a selectman and a member of the Redevelopment Authority, also supported selling the property.

“We don’t want to be sitting on properties that could be better utilized or reinvented,” Whiteside said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’d drive around and you’d tell me how many properties we own, and I’d say put them all up to auction.”