  |
|
| Stock Lumber auction brings $700,000 price |
|
|
| Wednesday, 03 February 2010 | |
|
Cliff Buchan News Editor A potential buyer and new owner for the Stock Lumber Co. property in Forest Lake has been found. The 3.29-acre site at 231 W. Broadway Ave. was sold at public auction on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The purchase price for the land and buildings was $700,000, plus a 10 percent buyer’s premium. Brandon Wiley, broker for I.R.A.Y. Auction of Foley, confirmed this week that the buyers for the property were Bill Fogerty and Jim Harley, both with Forest Lake ties. As of Monday, Wiley said final negotiations on the purchase between buyer and seller were still in progress under terms of the auction. A closing date on the property could take up to 30 days to complete, Wiley said. Harley did not return a request for comment on Monday and Fogerty could not be reached. The auction of the land parcel and nearly 45,000 square feet of buildings was part of the Stock asset liquidation tied to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last spring. The former Stock Lumber business operated for many years as Inter-State Lumber Co. and had yards in Forest Lake, Hugo, Lindstrom and Rush City among many other sites. The existing main office and former showroom were part of a major expansion and redevelopment of the site in 1994. Stock Lumber closed its Forest Lake lumber yard and building center in August of 2007 and consolidated operations at a new facility just off Viking Blvd. (CR-22) in Cedar. That facility is one of 94 Stock operations to be shuttered during the past 12 months as the company suffered during the economic downturn and the crippled home construction industry. Stock had been owned by London-based Wolseley with United States headquarters in North Carolina. In May of 2009, Wolseley announced an agreement with The Gores Group, LLC, an investment group, giving Gores a 51 percent stake in Stock Building Supply. Stock was then entered into a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. As part of its new business plan, the company will operate in 19 markets but not in Minnesota. I.R.A.Y. Auction of Foley was hired to conduct the auctions of Minnesota properties. Along with the auction in Forest Lake on Jan. 27, the former Stock Lumber facility in South St. Paul was also sold at auction. The Forest Lake property carried tax valuation of approximately $2 million. Property taxes on the parcel were just under $55,000 as of 2008 county figures. The site has a number of potential redevelopment uses. Under city zoning codes, potential development includes retail, hospitality and/or multi-unit residential. The property is located one block west of US-61 (Lake Street) which carries more than 18,000 vehicles a day. At its Broadway location, the property sits on the city’s main east-west artery from I-35 which carries just over 16,000 cars a day. Social Bookmarking ...       |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|