State sells 10 Barrel Brewing, Central Washington Place and five other commercial buildings

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The Central Washington Place building and 10 Barrel Brewing/Garro Building properties were the top sellers Dec. 1 in an auction of commercial properties owned by the Idaho Department of Lands.

The state netted $17.3 million from the seven properties sold at the Courtyard Marriott Meridian Hotel auction in Meridian, a $4.5 million increase over the initial bid prices based on appraised values.

The bidding on the state-owned .41-acre parking lot between the Garro and 10 Barrel buildings soared from an opening $325,000 to $1.4 million before the Santa Ana, Calif.,-based O.L Halsell Foundation ultimately won all three properties combined for $6.5 million.

Nampa-based Downs Auction used a three-step bidding process to determine whether to sell the Barrell/Garro/parking properties individually, as one unit, or a building paired with the parking lot. They  were first auctioned individually, then each building paired with the parking lot, then all three combined, with the highest prices among the three levels deemed the winner.

AGS Properties of Boise acquired the Central Washington Place building in downtown Boise uncontested with the minimum bid of $4.2 million. AGS also prevailed in a competitive auction for a former bank building at 800 W. State St. in Boise for $1.5 million after bidding started at $830,000. The general partners at AGS Properties are John Edward Simplot, Laurie Careen Simplot Braun and Adelia A Simplot, according to Idaho Secretary of State records.

Boise-based Keylock Storage won a bidding war that took the Affordable Storage property on Maple Grove Road from $3 million to $4.7 million. Keylock has six Idaho locations in Nampa, Coeur d’Alene, Meridian and Hayden Lake and other locations in Pendleton, Ore., and Pasco and Mead, both in Washington.

Kris Wright, owner of Action Motor Sports in Idaho Falls, had a winning bid for $330,000 for a 3.76-acre commercial lot on Lincoln Road in Idaho Falls a few blocks from his business.

The Idaho Department of Lands will consider divesting itself of 10 other commercial properties in 2017 that are classified as state endowment trust lands.

The proceeds from all the auctions are distributed to designated beneficiaries that include the Public Schools Fund, Normal School Fund for Lewis-Clark State College and Idaho State University Department of Education, State Hospital South Fund (in Blackfoot),  University of Idaho Fund, the UofI School of Science and UofI Agriculture College funds, the Penitentiary Fund and five other state institutions.

The Normal School fund will receive about 76 percent from the Garro/10 Barrel and State Street bank sales and 95 percent of the Central Washington Place sale. Public schools will get 100 percent of the Affordable Storage and Idaho Falls sales and 5 percent of the Central Washington Place sale. State Hospital South will be the recipient of about 24 percent of the Garro/10 Barrel and State Street bank sales, according to Idaho Department of Lands records.