Top offer eclipses $300k as bidding for site continues

Bidding for a county-owned property has entered an eighth round of an upset bid process that has now extended close to four months. Two entities have emerged over the past couple months, having flip-flopped as top bidder for the site of the former Sampson County Emergency Management headquarters.

The new high bid is $311,000 by Global Medical Outreach, the highest of three bidders who submitted offers in the seventh round of the auction-style procedure for the site off U.S. 701 Business and Underwood Street. Those bids were unsealed Tuesday.

The previous high bid was $276,100 from Wilcare Facilities, which has traded the top spot with Global Medical Outreach over the last four rounds.

If qualified upset bids are received, the process repeats until no additional qualifying upset bid are submitted. When a 10-day period has passed and no qualifying higher bid is received, the highest bid will be reported to the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, which can accept or deny the offer.

As part of the upset bid process, the offeror is required to deposit 5 percent of the bid amount with the board clerk, who then publishes an advertisement for eligible upset bids — which would have to equal 10 percent of the first $1,000 of the original offer and 5 percent of the remainder and be received within 10 days after the date of the advertisement, accompanied by a bid bond or deposit.

The next bid must be at least $326,600 and bids are due by 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 30.

The initial bid in April was $25,000, which then kicked off the upset bid procedure. There have been seven rounds of bidding since that time, and the offer has exceeded 12 times that original amount.

To date, high bids in succession have included: $25,000, by Matthews Drug Store; $50,000, by Michele Hinson; $80,000, by Tara Jackson; $130,000, by Wilcare Facilities; $221,000, by Kemp Burdette; $251,000, by Lawrence Watts, Global Medical Outreach; and $276,100 from Wilcare Facilities.

The county initially set a July 1 target date to have the property transferred to a buyer, however the county’s current timeframe will take it to at least the end of July, with still multiple bidders expressing interest.

County leaders, in previous discussions, were counseled by attorney Joel Starling that it would be the best course of action to let market conditions, and public interest, dictate the ultimate sale price for the parcel.

At the beginning of this year, commissioners directed staff to resume informally soliciting and negotiating offers on the Underwood Street property, to exclude the portion that includes the Sampson County Veterans Park.

The board previously expressed its interest in divesting itself of ownership interest in, and financial responsibility for, the property while maintaining the veterans park at the edge of the subdivided parcel.