Sullivan & Sullivan Auctioneers ran a successful auction for four city-owned properties on Monday in Council Chambers. (Photos by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – The City of Westfield held its first auction on Monday of city-owned tax-possessed properties in at least the five and a half years that Meghan Kane has worked there.
Kane, who is Treasurer/Collector for the city and serves as the tax title custodian said the main goal was to return the residential properties at 17 Green Ave. and 7 Shepard St. and the vacant lots at 8 Lewis St. and 48 Meadow St. to tax-paying status. “We have a general range of what we’re hoping to get from the auction, but we really want to return them to the tax rolls,” she said before it started.
27 registered bidders were in attendance, each with a $5,000 deposit in the form of a bank check. “Nice crowd,” said auctioneer Maureen Sullivan of Sullivan & Sullivan Auctioneers.
“We offer all of the properties individually, and sell to the highest bidder by confirmation of the tax title custodian Meghan Kane,” Sullivan explained about the process. She said there were no minimum bids, and they had the right to accept or reject any bid. Sullivan & Sullivan conducts over 150 auctions a month, including foreclosures and municipal auctions, and holds the contract for the cities of Springfield and Holyoke, according to Maureen Sullivan.
27 registered bidders came to the auction.
Before the first property was auctioned, Sullivan read the terms and conditions to the bidders. She said the high bidder must pay a 5% buyer’s premium added on to the bid. The increments would be at the discretion of the auctioneer, who reserved the right to accept or reject any offer. All of the properties were being sold as is, and there were no taxes and liens on any of the properties.
Other terms stated that sales would not be made to any person who owes the city any taxes or other monies; and could not be made to prior owners, or to any agents representing the prior owners. Closing had to be completed within 45 days, although there were no requirements regarding a timetable for fixing up the properties or residency. Sullivan said the tax title custodian reserved the right to sell to the second highest bidder if the first defaults, or to the third highest if second defaults, however, is not required to do so.
Auctioneer Maureen Sullivan.
First to auction was a two-story road house on 17 Green Avenue, which was built in 1870, and was assessed at $89,200. The house, zoned Residence C, has three bedrooms and 1 ½ baths and sits on a 2,613 sq. ft. lot (.06 acres). Sullivan attempted to start the bid at $50,000, but with no takers, reduced the start to $25,000. After a short burst of activity, the property sold for $37,000. No information was learned about the buyer.
The second house, a 2-story Colonial on an 18,295 sq. ft. lot (.42 acres) zoned Residence B at 7 Shepard St., has 4 bedrooms, and 2 baths, and was built in 1850. “A lot of potential,” Sullivan said about the property to the bidders.
The bidding for 7 Shepard St. also started at $25,000, but quickly went to $79,000 where it was narrowed down to two bidders on the property, who volleyed back and forth in increments of $500 up to the sale price of $101,500.
The successful bidder, a young woman who declined to give her name but said she lives in Westfield, called the bidding stand-off “nerve wracking.”
Builders David MacIver and Joseph Tremblay of Westfield bought the vacant lot at 8 Lewis St. for $33,000.
The 7,405 sq. ft. (.17 acres) vacant lot at 8 Lewis St. zoned Residence C with an assessed value of $53,500 was next. Several bidders were interested in the property, which began at $25,000 and closed at $33,000.
An effort on the part of neighbors who had begun a community garden on the lot, to halt the sale and convince the city to keep the land open failed, when a cease and desist order for the garden went out in June.
The property was sold to David MacIver and Joseph Tremblay of Westfield, who are partners in a building business. Tremblay said they would probably build a house on the property.
Westfield residents Tatiana and Sergiy Supunchuk, successful bidders of the lot at 48 Meadow St.
The smaller 1306 sq. ft. (.03 acres) lot at 48 Meadow St. with an assessed value of $17,000 and zoned Business A, first got a high bid of $3,500. That bid was declined by Kane in a consultation with Assistant City Solicitor Meghan Bristol. Kane said the minimum bid on the property would be $5,000. It was then sold to Sergiy Supunchuk of Westfield for $5,000.
Supunchuk said he might just use it for storage, but noted that it’s zoned Business A, indicating there might be other possibilities for the lot.
The high bids for the four properties totaled $176,500.
Mayor Brian P. Sullivan observed the proceedings, along with several other city employees. “After a very long process of taking tax title, four properties were auctioned off to a full crowd in Council chambers. These properties will now be put back on the tax roll and neighborhoods will have some new life. Thanks go to Law, Treasurer’s and Assessor’s offices and all those who helped through the process,” Mayor Sullivan said after the auction.
