Middle Hears Pitch to Sell Vacant Lots

COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee heard a presentation July 3 from Robert Dann, chief operating officer of Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Company, concerning the auctioning of surplus township-owned properties.
Two weeks ago at its work session, Business Administrator Elizabeth Terenik briefed the committee on surplus property rolls, properties owned by the township for which the township has no use.
She recommended an auction of the properties. The presentation by Dann was the next step in that process.
Dann listed some municipal real estate auctions Max Spann has conducted, saying that the company had worked with 40 municipalities in the state.
One of those auctions involved 120 properties in Atlantic City which is where Terenik came to know the company.
In that 2016 auction, Atlantic City sold over 100 properties for about $1.7 million. Most properties were sold at significant discounts to their assessed values, but their sale did put the property back on the city’s tax rolls. In that instance, Atlantic City did give multi-year tax abatements for improvements to the land.
The auction process itself was seen as a major success, and Terenik brought the concept with her to Middle Township.
Terenik recently left the position of director of planning for Atlantic City to accept the role of the business administrator in the township.
Max Spann’s government sales process is attractive to municipalities for its track record and low risk.
Dann explained that the company assumes all the tasks associated with an auction. It provides a “professional multi-media marketing campaign,” provides all needed staffing and handles all the necessary paperwork. 
The entire auction process is at no cost to the municipality. The company covers all costs and recoups those expenses plus its profit from a buyer’s fee attached to the bid for any specific property.
As Terenik had indicated at the earlier work session, many of the properties on the township list have little market value.
Dann said that Max Spann would look at the properties and make a recommendation back to the township on the best way to auction them.
If there are enough buildable lots in the package to warrant a separate township auction, one can be held with six to eight weeks lead time.
If not, township properties can be bundled into another auction with another municipality as a way of spreading the costs and making the auction viable.
Dann said that the auction process takes about six to eight weeks with most of that time dedicated to a marketing campaign. Closing on the properties takes place four to six weeks after the auction.
Following the presentation, the committee unanimously approved a resolution to retain Max Spann for the purposes of auctioning the surplus publically owned properties.
Terenik also explained that a proposed contract would allow the township to take advantage of the arrangement again in the future “as other properties become available.”
The township is taking other steps to rid itself of surplus property and to return the property to the tax rolls. Many of the properties are small lots that cannot support development.
Terenik said that the township would be contacting adjacent property owners to see if there is interest in adding those small lots to their existing holding.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.