No early bids for McIntyre building auction in Portsmouth. Why feds aren't concerned.

PORTSMOUTH — There were no bids placed in the online auction for the 2.1-acre Thomas J. McIntyre federal building downtown property as of late Thursday afternoon.

Paul Hughes, a regional public affairs officer for the General Services Administration, which owns the property, confirmed there were no bids, calling it the "early stage of the auction.”

But he stated “that is not unusual” and noted that “GSA continues to receive significant interest in the property.”

The online auction began June 20 for the property, which is also located a stone’s throw from Portsmouth’s popular waterfront and in the restaurant-laden downtown.

The minimum bid for the property is $5 million and bidders must preregister and make a $1 million deposit, before they’re allowed to bid, according to the GSA.

Asked how long the online auction will run, Hughes stated that “every property is different, there is no established timeline for GSA’s online auctions.”

“The bid activity will determine the length of the auction,” he said Thursday.

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Hughes stressed that “based on the level of interest, we fully expect to receive bids on this property.”

The site at 80 Daniel St. features a “4-story steel-frame masonry office building of approximately 107,000 square feet of gross building area with forty-four (44) indoor parking spaces and a two-tier outdoor parking lot with ninety-one (91) spaces,” according to the GSA’s description of the property.

“The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building to the Downtown Portsmouth Historic District,” according to the agency.

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Hughes declined to say if any developers have made the $1 million deposit so they can bid on the McIntyre property, explaining that “GSA does not share this information for any auction.”

GSA officials announced in early May they would put the property up for sale.

The announcement came a day after the City Council voted not to move forward with the agency on a negotiated sale of the property for $20 million to $25 million, which the agency estimated was its fair market value.

The city had tried for years to acquire the property for $1 through the federal Historic Monument Program, working with their private development partners, Redgate/Kane.

The GSA dropped Portsmouth from the program when it did not submit a formal redevelopment application to the National Park Service by the March 31 deadline.

The city and Redgate/Kane, who had threatened each other repeatedly with legal action, then filed lawsuits against each other.

Portsmouth City Attorney Susan Morrell on Thursday acknowledged she was “a little surprised” that no one had bid on the property.

“I’m not an expert on their process,” she said, and added that “some people have commented that no one wants to be the first bidder, so it may just be strategy.”

The city was told that the online auctions are typically a four to six week process, Morrell said.

GSA and the city of “have an ongoing agreement whereby the city is responsible for maintenance of the property in exchange for permission to use all of the exterior parking spaces for any parking related purpose,” Hughes said Thursday.

That includes “use of the spaces by private parties or members of the public,” he said.

“The city is currently operating metered spaces and collecting all parking fees” at the McIntyre, Hughes said.

When bids start coming in, they “will be posted in real time in the ‘Bid History’ section of the auction web page as they are received,” Hughes said previously.

“At the close of the auction, the high bid will be considered for acceptance by the government. The government reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids,” Hughes said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: No early bids for McIntyre building auction in Portsmouth NH