Unfinished plaza bought

An online auction netted a $625,000 winning bid for the partially built McQueen Professional Plaza near the Islands community in Gilbert, where the blighted complex has gathered weeds, litter and graffiti while sitting vacant for years.

The sale late last month could mean a happier ending for a development that was supposed to open in late 2008 but which has since fallen into neighborhood-eyesore status.

The two-day auction, which ended April 26, may not result in a sale, since the terms and conditions allow the seller to accept or reject any bid for the property. But the initial information provided by Auction.com suggested the $625,000 bid met the seller's undisclosed reserve price.

The winning bidder is required to execute a purchase agreement within two hours of the auction's close or risk being declared in default. The bidder then must deliver earnest money within 24 hours, and the sale should close within 30 days, according to the terms and conditions.

Auction.com accepted bids only from cash buyers, who paid a $5,000 deposit to participate in the auction.

Bidding started at $250,000 and climbed to $400,000 by the morning of April 26. A flurry of last-minute bids elevated the price to $625,000. According to Auction.com, the property's most recent real-estate value was set at $620,000 in August 2010. The developer's initial loan on the project was worth about $7.4 million, according to Maricopa County records.

Phoenix contractor Parker Ganem, who was building the complex, said now-defunct Silver State Bank was financing the project but stopped paying and was seized by the federal government. "That one bank took my entire construction company down," Ganem said. "I had to file for bankruptcy because of that one project."

Construction screeched to a halt, leaving partially framed buildings with exposed foundations and open storm-drain culverts. Weeds shot up, and the lot drew litter and graffiti.

by Parker Leavitt - May. 11, 2012 02:39 PM The Republic | azcentral.com


Unfinished plaza bought