Auction of former Herald-Mail Media building to be rescheduled after Wednesday sale fails
An auction Wednesday of the former Herald-Mail Media building downtown ended with no sale after a bidder wouldn't come up to a price the state was looking for.
The building and surrounding property at 100 Summit Ave. were purchased for construction of an approximately $70 million baseball stadium that is underway on the newspaper's former parking lot as well as other parcels at Baltimore Street and Summit Avenue.
After it was determined the newspaper building did not have to be torn down for the stadium, the Maryland Stadium Authority, which is overseeing the stadium construction, decided to sell it.
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It was set up for a noon auction Wednesday in the newspaper's former offices.
Who offered bids on the property ?
The auction attracted two bidders: Tony Brown from Blackthorn Capital Partners and attorney Jason Divelbiss, who was representing a group of investors.
The auctioneer was Dwayne Kershner, a state highways supervisor who is helping the authority sell the building.
Kershner tried an opening bid of $3 million. With no interest from Brown or Divelbiss, Kershner dropped to $2.5 million, then $2 million and $1.5 million before he got any traction between the two with a $1 million bid from Brown. Brown and Divelbiss exchanged increasing bids before Brown bowed out $1.4 million and Divelbiss went to $1.5 million.
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Kershner took a break to consult with a stadium authority representative about whether the agency would take $1.5 million.
Kershner returned to his podium and told the roughly dozen people present that the authority would not go lower than $2.1 million.
Divelbiss consulted with his group on a phone, and at one point asked Kershner if he needed an answer Wednesday.
When Kershner said yes, Divelbiss said his group was not prepared to act that fast on $2.1 million.
What happens now?
Kershner said the state will schedule another auction soon and added it will be "looking for comparable numbers."
After the auction, Divelbiss said he is representing a group of investors known as 2023 Summit LLC. He would not divulge who they are.
"I can tell you that their interest is local," said Divelbiss, adding that the group supports the efforts so far to revitalize downtown.
Divelbiss said his group is still interested in the building, but didn't know what their next move might be.
Blackthorn Capital Partners is renovating what is known as the Updegraff building at 53 W. Washington St., across from University Plaza, for residential and commercial use. Several members of the firm looked at the former newspaper building last week during an open house hosted by the state.
They said it presents various challenges, including that its large 53,000-square-foot size is overkill for any sort of retail operation right now downtown. Brown continued to talk about the challenges Wednesday after the auction, saying building something that specifically meets one's needs is different than trying to figure out a use for an existing one.
"But it's a great building," Brown said.
Opened in 1979, the building was a modern design for the time, with large windows on the front that allowed motorists passing on Summit Avenue to see presses rolling at night. Angled windows on the roof produced natural light inside, and it was constructed to eventually allow for solar panel installation (though no panels were ever installed).
It's anticipated that steel for the stadium, known as the Hagerstown Multi-Use Sports and Events Facility, will start going up around July and that the facility will be finished around April or May next year.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Maryland Stadium Authority unable to sell downtown Hagerstown building
