Wayne plans to hold auction for former VFW meeting hall
WAYNE — A former meeting space for war veterans will be sold to the highest bidder at a public auction next month.
If there are any bidders, that is.
In the past, the township has had little luck in its attempts to sell the small parcel whose most striking feature is a brick building that had been leased for decades to Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post 1931.
But officials believe that the red-hot housing market will help them to close a deal on the property, at 126 Newark Pompton Turnpike.
"We figured that we'd try again," said Mayor Christopher Vergano. "We're hoping that, with the market changing, someone may be interested in taking it and redoing it."
The auction will be on Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. at the township hall. The minimum bid price will be $160,000, and bids will be accepted in increments of no less than $1,000.
In July 2019, the Township Council rezoned the property from industrial use to residential use to try to make it more palatable to potential buyers. That was after a fourth auction brought no bidders.
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The upcoming auction will be the first since the property's new zoning designation.
The VFW post, established at the height of the Vietnam War — in March 1966 — met the same fate as similar organizations and folded 11 years ago. Its tax-exempt status was officially revoked by the IRS in May 2014, federal records show.
The 5,028-square-foot building was first occupied by a telephone company. A local civil defense unit used its ground floor in later years for firearms instruction and other drills.
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wayne NJ: VFW meeting hall up for auction in February
