For sale: former commuter rail station site in downtown Raleigh. Price: $10.1 million

More than 15 years ago, the people planning a commuter rail system for the Triangle thought the site of an old warehouse in downtown Raleigh would be a good place for a station for state workers.

That version of commuter rail never happened, and now GoTriangle, the regional transit agency, is putting the property on the market, with a minimum asking price of $10.13 million.

The single-story building dates back to the 1930s and was used as a tire repair shop just before the Triangle Transit Authority bought it in 2005. The property includes nearly an acre on West Lane Street, between the State Government Complex and the Glenwood South entertainment district, and is just south of the office and apartment towers of the new Smoky Hollow complex.

“The neighborhood has been converting over to higher towers and condos,” said Charles Lattuca, GoTriangle’s president and CEO. “So having a warehouse across the street, it cries out for redevelopment.”

GoTriangle is again planning a commuter rail system, but it would follow the N.C. Railroad corridor between Garner and Durham and not use the tracks next to the warehouse property. The agency stores bus shelters in part of the warehouse.

The federal and state governments helped purchase the property when the TTA, GoTriangle’s predecessor agency, thought it would be needed for a commuter rail station. They will each get a cut of the proceeds from any sale.

Nearly 60% would go to the Federal Transit Administration, while the N.C. Department of Transportation would get 13.6%, said Gary Tober, GoTriangle’s director of real estate and facilities. GoTriangle’s share is 30.7%, or about $3 million if the agency gets the minimum asking price.

The commuter rail system that TTA was planning ultimately failed to get federal support or funding and was abandoned in 2006. During the planning, Lattuca said, the agency acquired slivers of land along a six-mile stretch of the CSX railroad line from downtown into North Raleigh.

Most of that property is unusable except to widen the rail corridor. Lattuca said it may be useful to the NCDOT as it plans high-speed passenger trains between Raleigh and Richmond in coming years.

The largest piece of property the TTA bought downtown is now being turned into retail and residential towers in the Warehouse District. Union West, as the project is called, will also include a bus depot for GoTriangle and GoRaleigh buses next to the city’s train station, Raleigh Union Station.

The TTA also owns a third of an acre on North Harrington Street, across from the warehouse. Tober said NCDOT may want to use the lot for the high-speed rail project. He said GoTriangle has begun talking about a potential deal with the state that would give it 10.6 acres of landlocked NCDOT land near Interstate 540 that would allow it to expand its bus maintenance garage.