Own a piece of history: Bartlesville Price Tower listing goes live with auction to follow

Smash those piggy banks and clean up that credit report; Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper, the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, heads to auction with a starting bid of $600,000.

Now listed on ten-x.com for an October sale date, the iconic Price Tower has garnered worldwide attention over the last few months as the tower's owner, Copper Tree Inc., has struggled financially.

Copper Tree Inc. took ownership of the tower 18 months ago. Under Cynthia Blanchard's leadership, museum artifacts were sold , restaurants were opened and closed with public funds , and the promise of an injection of $10 million in capital improvements never materialized.

Now, with the last commercial rental tenants evicted from the building, the tower looms with a close date set for Sept. 1, one month before the auction is set to close.

The building also holds an extensive art collection, which isn't mentioned in the listing. In a press release from the broker, Scott Schlotfelt wrote that the accompanying art collection will be addressed separately in "Phase 2" of the ownership transition. No additional details were provided about Phase 2 in that news release.

Although the listing does not mention the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy's easement on the property, more documents are available after a confidentiality agreement is signed.

"We stand ready to meet with prospective buyers to talk about our easement on the property and how we can work as prevention partners together," said Barbara Gordon, executive director of the Conservancy.

It is unknown if a reserve has been set for the auction, but Washington County records indicate the assessed value of the property is $6,214,060 in 2023.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Own a piece of history: Bartlesville Price Tower listing goes live with auction to follow