Road 68 land nets $2.8 million
Published Wednesday, June 28th, 2006
By Mary Hopkin, Herald staff writer
Franklin County earned nearly $2.8 million Tuesday when officials auctioned off about 10.5 acres of prime commercial real estate west of TRAC off Road 68.
"I think we got a fair price on today's market," said Franklin County Commissioner Frank Brock.
More than 40 people showed up for the auction, which was held at TRAC. But only about 20 were registered buyers, said auctioneer Merle Booker of Western Real Estate Auctions and Booker Auction.
Six lots, ranging in size from 1.29 acres to 2.11 acres, were sold to five buyers.
"I'm very pleased," he said. "I think the best part about it is there are new ambitious owners that see the value of the location and appear to be anxious to put a business here."
During the auction, which took nearly three hours to complete, bidders could bid on single parcels, the whole 10.47 acres, or any combination of the six lots.
"It never cut anyone out," said Neva Corkrum, Franklin County Commission chairwoman.
Corkrum said the county bought the land about 16 years ago from the Department of Natural Resources for about $130,000. Originally there were 28 acres, but the county sold a portion earlier -- where Cousin's Restaurant is being built -- and is keeping two parcels west of TRAC for additional parking.
Corkrum said the land was a good investment, but now it's time to get rid of it.
"We were waiting for someone to approach us, and then got this idea of doing a land auction," she said.
The auction started out with gusto, with a bidding war that pushed the price of the first parcel, at the corner of Road 68 and Rodeo Drive, to $700,000. The initial bidding for the remaining parcels cooled off.
Booker then opened up the auction floor to parcel combinations or anyone interested in buying the whole chunk. The bidding would continue as long as fresh bids that bumped up the overall price of the land within Booker's time limit. That time limit started at five minutes.
Then it dropped to three minutes.
"There at the end, he dropped the time limit and we were making $5,000 to $10,000 a minute," Corkrum said.
Booker said real estate auctions are becoming a more and more popular way to sell land. He said he advertised the auction for nearly two months and his Web site, www.westernreal estateauctions.com, received more than 1,000 unique visitors during that time.
"We had visitors from Los Angeles, New Mexico and British Columbia," he said.
The auction had registered buyers from four different states, he added.
Buyers had to put 10 percent down and were required to present the title company with the balance within 30 days, he said.
Corkrum said commissioners are hoping to use some of the money to refurbish buildings around the courthouse and improve security in the area.
Tri-City Herald
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/7908632p-7802274c.html
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