Bidding hits four-month mark for site

Bidding for a county-owned property has entered a whopping ninth round of an upset bid process that has now extended for four months.

This week, a new high bid of $357,000 from Ownership Opportunities LLP was accepted by county officials, continuing the process. Ownership Opportunities was the higher of two bidders that submitted offers in the eighth round of the auction-style procedure for the site of the former Sampson County Emergency Management headquarters, located off U.S. 701 Business and Underwood Street.

Those bids were unsealed Tuesday.

The previous high bid was $311,000 from Global Medical Outreach.

As part of the upset bid process, if qualified upset bids are received, the process repeats until no additional qualifying upset bid are submitted. When a 10-day period has passed and no qualifying higher bid is received, the highest bid will be reported to the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, which can accept or deny the offer.

The next bid will need to be at least $374,900. Bids are due by 2 p.m. Aug. 13.

During the bidding period, the offeror is required to deposit 5 percent of the bid amount with the board clerk, who then publishes an advertisement for eligible upset bids — which would have to equal 10 percent of the first $1,000 of the original offer and 5 percent of the remainder and be received within 10 days after the date of the advertisement, accompanied by a bid bond or deposit.

The initial bid in April was $25,000, which then kicked off the upset bid procedure. There have been seven rounds of bidding since that time, and the offer has exceeded 12 times that original amount.

To date, high bids in succession have included: $25,000, by Matthews Drug Store; $50,000, by Michele Hinson; $80,000, by Tara Jackson; $130,000, by Wilcare Facilities; $221,000, by Kemp Burdette; $251,000, by Lawrence Watts, Global Medical Outreach; $276,100 from Wilcare Facilities; and then the $311,000 from Global Medical Outreach.

The county initially set a July 1 target date to have the property transferred to a buyer, however the county’s current timeframe will take it to the middle of August.

County leaders, in previous discussions, were counseled by attorney Joel Starling that it would be the best course of action to let market conditions, and public interest, dictate the ultimate sale price for the parcel.

At the beginning of this year, commissioners directed staff to resume informally soliciting and negotiating offers on the Underwood Street property, to exclude the portion that includes the Sampson County Veterans Park.

The board previously expressed its interest in divesting itself of ownership interest in, and financial responsibility for, the property while maintaining the veterans park at the edge of the subdivided parcel.