A block on the block: 5 former Becker College buildings sold at auction in Leicester

LEICESTER – Going once, going twice, and five former Becker College buildings, once used as dormitories, were sold for a total of more than $1.2 million to individual real estate investors Wednesday at a live auction event at Town Hall.

The five Victorian buildings, all alongside Main Street across the street from Town Hall, were placed for auction after the town acquired them in a 19-building deal for $18 million from Becker College when the school closed its doors for good in 2021.

Some of the Leicester buildings have been used as the new campus of Leicester High School, while others were converted to shelters for families in need of transitional housing.

Dozens of interested buyers gave their best dollar amounts with a wave of their yellow slips after filling the Town Hall auditorium shortly before 1 p.m.

The mumbled conversations of bidders were broken when Paul Zekos, the auctioneer for The Zekos Group, awoke the crowd with chants reminiscent of livestock auctioneers.

He started with a description of the properties with emphasis on their location being right across from the town Common, all five lined up next to each other in a block between Market Street and Flint Way.

“This is less about top dollar and more about having a vision,” said Zekos before the auction started.

Each hopeful bidder came in with a $10,000 check for each property, which was reimbursed to losers.

Pair of investors buy 2 properties

The biggest sum of the day came from two local real estate investors, Lee Morse and Justin Eisnor, who bulldogged bidders for two of the five properties for a total of $410,000 in individual bidding wars.

The two friends, who described their business partnership as “brothers from another mother,” received the winner’s round of applause for 993 Main St., also known as Lane Hall, a 47,216-square-foot property that includes a 4,404-square-foot brick single-family home, previously used for student housing by Becker College.

Dating to 1822 and with six bedrooms, four bathrooms and an upper-level suite that is reached through a spiral staircase, it also has six tile fireplaces and handcrafted woodwork among other features.

The property’s latest value assessment was $457,000.

“We’re looking to renovate them for duplex, two-family use most likely,” said Morse.

The duo’s other successful hit, for which the auditorium was once again filled with applause, was 997 Main St., also known as Hitchcock Hall, for a winning bid of $170,000.

The property totals 14,732 square feet and includes a 3,504-square-foot single-family home with 10 bedrooms and three bathrooms, all spaces once used for student housing by Becker College.

Its last value assessment is $407,000 for the main parcel and $10,000 for a parcel to its side, a property of almost 3,000 square feet.

Eisnor said both properties’ location was the biggest win of the day.

“The properties are overlooking the Common, which is a nice feature,” Eisnor said. “People will feel safe. It’s a good family area.”

$350,000 clinches the deal

The most expensive individual bid of the day was placed on the property at 1003 Main St., Winslow Hall.

The winning bidder, Holden-based Robert Rios, threw in $350,000 as the knockout punch against a bidder waving up their yellow slip from the furthest corner of the gym while Zekos conducted the bidding war with high energy.

With a total of 29,135 square feet, the property features 4,888 square feet of living space with nine bedrooms and four bathrooms that Becker College used for student housing.

Rios said afterwards that he thought the price ended up being $50,000 higher than he had anticipated, but in the end, it was worth it.

“It was a bit of arrogance,” Rios said, half jokingly. “I liked the fact that it has the carriage barn behind it with 14 car spaces.

“That was one of the benefits on why I said, ‘OK, maybe I can go a little bit higher on it.’”

The property addressed at 963 Main St., and also the only property on the list that was limited by commercial zoning, proved to be a tougher one to convince bidders to wave up their yellow slips. Zekos had to do a second round of bidding after a starting bid as low as $100,000 just wasn’t cutting it for the crowd.

Also known as Russell Hall, the property was used for administrative purposes by Becker College, but it is structurally built as a duplex home with 4,000 square feet of living area comprising eight dwellings, two kitchens, three bathrooms, multiple marble and wooden fireplaces, a finished walkout basement and a wraparound farmer’s porch.

A bargain at $245,000

The property was built in 1822 and its last value assessment was $432,900.

When the property went up for auction a second time around, the price slowly creeped up to the final $245,000 — local realtor Justin Grimsley’s winning bid.

“I can see it becoming a nice coffee shop for high school students going by it on their way to and from school,” Grimsley said.

The last property on the list, an 1840 home addressed at 981 Main St., was snatched up for $230,000 by buyers who shied away from sharing their plans for the property.

The property was the smallest on the list with a total of 15,876 square feet that includes a 2,189-square-foot duplex-style home called the 1812 House with seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The building also has three kitchens, five fireplaces, hardwood and wide pine board floors, a wraparound porch and a garage.

Its value was last assessed at $439,200.

At the end of the event, Town Administrator David A. Generaux said the town was happy with the outcome, adding that the $1,235,000 raised would be put toward the town debt.

“We had hoped that we would clear a million dollars out of the sale,” Generaux said. "We're happy that these beautiful homes are going to be rehabbed and reused and go back into the community and become part of the community."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Becker College buildings sold at auction in Leicester