Going, going, gone: Water Street properties sell in auction on courthouse steps

Published 6:46 pm Saturday, October 25, 2014

VAIL STEWART RUMLEY | DAILY NEWS TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER: Franz Holscher takes bids for properties on Water Street on Thursday morning. The two properties were foreclosed upon by the city early this year.

VAIL STEWART RUMLEY | DAILY NEWS
TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER: Franz Holscher takes bids for properties on Water Street on Thursday morning. The two properties were foreclosed upon by the city early this year.

Two Washington residents took advantage of an auction on the Beaufort County Courthouse steps Thursday morning, walking away with properties at a fraction of their value.

For years, city officials had attempted to contact the out-of-state owner of the dilapidated home at 312 Water Street and a neighboring lot, with no results. Earlier this year, the city was able to foreclose on the property and put it up for auction last week, with the desire to recoup the liens that had been placed on the properties.

City attorney Franz Holscher read the notice of foreclosure on the first property, a vacant lot located at 324 Water Street, then opened the floor to bids from the small crowd. The bidding was opened at $9,500 — the amount of the city lien — by adjacent property owner Nancy Bienes. It was the first and final bid, likely because it was unknown if the lot was buildable and only a variance from the Board of Adjustments would determine if so.

The next piece of property up for auction was 312 Water Street, a circa 1890 home condemned by the city years ago. At the insistence of local historical groups, the city opted to put the home and its small lot up for auction rather than tear it down. The bidding started at $12,000 and rose to $16,500. Washington resident Christopher Banks, 23, made the winning bid.

Banks said he plans to begin restoring the home as soon as possible. As the property has been boarded up since city officials stepped in and removed a potentially hazardous front porch, Banks bought it sight unseen.

“I’m excited about the hidden treasures, of what we can find, but I’m a little apprehensive,” Banks said.

Previously, a city official said it could take approximately $100,000 worth of work to bring the home up to modern, and historical, standards.

Both properties are subject to the upset bid process in which any interested buyer has 10 days from the date of initial sale to make a minimum 5 percent increase on the original bid.

The out-of-state owner, the heir of Alton McCurley Wright,  previously rebuffed all tax notices sent by city officials and, ultimately, the Newport News, Va., Sheriff’s Office.