Not long ago, Guilford County officials were very close to quietly selling the old Monticello Community Center property for 100 grand.
However, the county commissioners told staff at a meeting that they didn’t think word of the sale had been presented to the public widely enough.
The county is supposed to actively seek out upset bids when selling any county-owned property so that the sale can bring in as much money as possible.
That $100,000 offer quickly received an upset bid, and now the county has announced that it’s received yet another upset offer of $126,000 to purchase the property at 5009-A NC 150.
North Carolina law requires that the new upset offer be subject to other upset offers – so the price may still go higher.
According to county officials, the property includes an old gym and other structures that need a lot of work. Guilford County no longer has a good use for the facility and doesn’t believe it’s worth the cost to fix it up. Also, the county is spending a lot of money each year on work crews to keep the grass mowed and the landscape maintained.
The terms of the current offer can be found at https://www.guilfordcountync.gov/home/showdocument?id=13360, and they’re also on file with the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners Office in the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro.
Now, all new property suiters can submit a sealed upset bid to the County Clerk at 301 W. Market St. in Greensboro by 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24. A bid form highly recommended for use is available at https://www.guilfordcountync.gov/home/showdocument?id=13362.
All bids will be open on the next day – Tuesday, Oct. 25 – at 9 a.m. and the highest qualifying bid will become the new offer. If there’s more than one bid in the highest amount, the first bid received will become the new offer.
To qualify as an upset bid, the new offer must be at least $132,350 – so don’t try to offer the county $126,001.
As state law dictates, if a qualifying upset bid is received, the new offer will be advertised and the process will be continued until a 10-day period has passed without a higher qualifying bid.
Any acceptance of an offer is conditioned on the Board of Commissioners’ approval of the final high offer. The board has the right to, at any time, reject any offers and withdraw the property from sale.
Oh boy, more money to spend on something besides the taxpayers!