It took a lot longer than planned, and it cost 150 percent more than originally anticipated.

However, after a long process, the Greensboro Batting Center has ended up with an agreement to purchase the Old Monticello Community Center at 5009-A NC 150 East in Brown Summit.  The overgrown land and the dilapidated gym that sits on it have been owned by Guilford County for decades.

In May of last year, Guilford County received an unsolicited offer from the Batting Center to purchase the unused property and, at first, it looked as though that was a done deal and the county would sell it to the Center for an even  $100,000.

However, in September, when the potential property sale came before the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the commissioners instructed staff to advertise more widely the county’s intent to sell the property.  That turned out to be a good idea for county taxpayers: Multiple bidders joined the competition for months and now the Greensboro Batting Center has been left standing with its recent offer of $260,000 and no upset bids to surpass it.

The Greensboro Batting Center currently operates a large facility in the Westgate Shopping Center at 3917 Gate City Blvd. in Greensboro.  The Center is a baseball and softball training operation that offers its services for individual players as well as entire teams.

County property management staff determined last year that the Monticello property did not have a beneficial county use.

The Board of Commissioners authorized county staff to enter the 10-day upset bid process on September 1, 2022.

The upset bids came rolling in and it took a total of six upset bid periods until there were no upset bids of previous bids.  In the end, the highest bidder was the Greensboro Batting Center with its offering in December of $260,000.

Though the Guilford County commissioners approved the sale in principle on Thursday, Jan.19, staff noted that there are still some due diligence issues to be worked out; so the board granted staff the ability to resolve those matters before the sale is final.