DC to Auction Off 18 Vacant Properties on June 30th

• May 27th 2010

by Mark Wellborn

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In a sequel to its successful auction last year, the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) yesterday announced that it will hold an auction of DC government-owned vacant property on June 30th at the Convention Center.

According to a press release, “eighteen properties, including single-family and multi-family buildings and vacant lots, will be sold at the one-day auction to the highest bidder for the purpose of redeveloping the properties into habitable residences.”

The properties are located in Wards 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The full list of properties, including photos, is available on auctioneer Alex Cooper’s website.

The auction will only be open to the following types of bidders: homeowners who intend to make the property a primary residence; non-profits; and DC Certified Business Entities.

UrbanTurf took in the scene at last year’s auction. Here is an excerpt from our report:

When UrbanTurf arrived at the auction site five minutes before it was set to begin, the line was over 130 people long, packing the building’s lobby. It inched forward slowly, and thirty minutes later, the line still had over 100 people in it. Coordinators eventually announced that only actual bidders would be allowed in (no sightseers), so unless you had a certified check for $10,000, you wouldn’t be making it in. Only a few people left following the announcement, suggesting that most people had the appropriate funds in hand.

We were sightseers but stayed in line anyway, having met someone with a certified check who generously offered to claim us as his business partner. However, when we finally reached the security entrance at 3pm, only check-holders themselves were allowed in.

Following a few conversations that UrbanTurf had with people in line, it became clear that many were eyeing the same properties. A handful of row houses in Ledroit Park and Columbia Heights had potential to be restored to beautiful properties.

The scene and targeted property types will likely be fairly similar this year. Here is a look at the properties that were auctioned off last year.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/dc_to_auction_off_18_vacant_properties_on_june_30th/2114.