 Cartoon
By Mike Lester
Ed Hine
is the high bidder for the former Cotton Block
park site
The
former Top Hat building on Broad Street fails to
sell.
11/15/07
By Mike Perry / Rome News-Tribune, staff
writer
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Rome
attorney Ed Hine placed the winning $410,000 bid
Wednesday to purchase the former Cotton Block
park site and adjacent building at Second Avenue
and Broad Street.
Click here to post your views on the auction
in our SoundOff blog site.
“We are
hoping to make some money,” Hine said of his
decision to buy the two-story building and
vacant lot at the highly visible corner.
Previous stories about Cotton Block, Top Hat
properties:
Cotton Block to hit auction block
Historic panel suggests changes to Levy’s plans
Cornerquandary persists at Cotton Block
CottonBlock is missed
Broad Street won’t welcome Appalachian Grill
after all
Construction scheduled to start for Appalachian
Grill
The state
of the property has caused a stir among downtown
merchants because of a massive trench remaining
in the ground for almost two years.
“We have
got to decide whether we will develop the
property or whether we will fill in the hole and
sell it as is,” Hine said. “We still have not
decided that yet. I can’t imagine the hole
remaining in the ground if it is developed.”
Dempsey
Auction Co. sold the property during an auction
held at the old Top Hat Formal Wear & Bridal
building, 300 Broad St.
“I don’t
know when we have had a sale that we have
experienced the kind of interest that we have in
this one,” said auctioneer Lou Dempsey.
He
pointed to the pedestrian bridge taking shape
over the Oostanaula River, a 380-space parking
deck planned near The Forum and other new office
and residential projects as proof of the
investments being made downtown.
The first
bid of $355,000 came from Ira Levy, a member of
the investment group Quarter Ton Inc., which
owns the site.
Former
Cotton Block owner Charles Craton entered the
bidding and raised the price to $395,000. But he
and Levy declined to outbid Hine.
Hine must
finalize the sale to gain ownership of the
property.
Craton
bought the building and vacant lot in January
2005 for $330,000, Floyd County property records
show.
That
April, Craton transferred the properties — along
with his $251,978 bank loan — to Levy, Jimmy
Kelley, G.H. Riddle Jr. and J. Bryant Durham
Jr., all partners in Quarter Ton.
Dempsey
also took offers Wednesday on the Top Hat site
and rear parking lot. Levy, the owner, said he
opted not to sell it because the offers weren’t
high enough.
Levy
bought the properties from Doc Kibler in
December 2005 for $537,000, records show.
He had
planned to demolish the aging building and
replace it with two-story townhouses and
above-street-level retail shops. He decided to
try and sell the site after the Historic
Preservation Commission rejected his demolition
and development plans for a third time.
Board
members had voiced fears of having a long-term
void in the downtown streetscape without a
definite construction timeline in place.
Levy said
Wednesday he has other plans and is going to
board up the building. “I have to keep the
structure in tact.”
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Larry Martin buys
Walker’s Garden Center site
10/11/07
By Mike Perry
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... ...The site of
Walker’s Garden Center, a
64-year-old lawn and garden store off Shorter Avenue, now has a
new owner.
Local real-estate
investor Larry Martin bought the 16-acre site at 2520 Shorter
Ave. N.W. for $555,000 Wednesday.
Owner Mike Meadows closed
the garden center last month, saying he planned to retire.
Meadows hired Dempsey
Auction Co. of Rome to sell the business.
Martin, an avid investor
in Floyd County real estate, said he plans to lease the property
for commercial use.
“We don’t know no
better,” Martin quipped when he asked why he bought the land.
“This is our business. This is all we do.”
With its visibility from
Alabama Highway, on-site utilities and commercial zoning, he
said, the la
A tent sits on the property of Walker’s as an auction for
the property begins Wednesday.
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nd is a good investment.
Meadows said he is happy
with the sale price.
“It’s a good feeling,” he
said. “Of course, you would always like to get more.”
Much of the center’s
leftover tools and supplies were for sale at Wednesday’s
auction. And Meadows said he planned to clear the rest of the
site soon.
“It’s been a good living.
But we reached a point where we realized we needed to do
something else, so it was time to move on,” he said.
Lynn Dempsey, with the
auction company, told a crowd at the site Wednesday that another
auction scheduled for next month will include two corner lots on
Broad Street, as well as large acreage on U.S. 411.
The properties include
300 Broad St., the site of the former Top Hat formal wear, and
the corner spot at Broad Street and East Second Avenue,
previously known as Cotton Block Park.
Ira Levy owns the Broad
Street property. Earlier this year, he planned to demolish the
former Top Hat building and replace it with two-story townhouses
above street-level retail shops.
But Levy decided to sell
the site late last month after the Historic Preservation
Commission rejected his demolition and development plans for a
third time.
Board members voiced
fears of having a long-term void in the downtown streetscape
without a definite construction timeline in place.
Levy also shares
ownership of the corner spot at East Second Avenue, where a
massive trench has remained in the ground for more than two
years.
At one time, the
investors planned to build an apartment/restaurant complex at
the corner with Appalachian Grill as a tenant.
But the restaurant deal
fell through by February 2006, and the property has sat idle
since.
“I guess we all sort of
put our heads together and decided it was time” to sell, Levy
said Wednesday.
The third parcel up for
sale is a 36-acre tract behind the Holiday Inn Express off U.S.
411, across from Chateau Drive.
Dempsey Auction Co. plans
to sell all three properties at an auction set for 10 a.m. Nov.
14 at the 300 Broad St. site.
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Auction joins heavenly food
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02/25/06
By Sonya Elkins, Rome News-Tribune
Staff Writer
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If only charity always tasted
this good.
About 325 people ate, bid and
ate more at Rome-Floyd County
Habitat for Humanity’s annual
Heavenly Helpings fund-raiser
Friday night at The Well in West
Rome.
The event, which is the local
organization’s largest
fund-raiser of the year,
collected about $7,000. It
featured dishes cooked by
volunteers from about 30
different churches and a live
auction. |
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Auctioneer Lynn Dempsey calls
for bids on a painting (shown
left) during Rome-Floyd County
Habitat for Humanity’s Heavenly
Helpings annual fund-raiser. Ken
Caruthers / RN-T |
“It was a totally successful event,”
said Bruce Day, director of the Rome
Habitat chapter. “We’re thrilled with
the outcome and just want to thank
everybody involved.”
The big seller at the evening’s
auction was a handmade Habitat quilt
sewn by Rome’s Lavender Mountain Quilt
Guild. It sold for $800, Day said. About
$3,000 raised from the event came from
the auction, with the rest from ticket
sales.
A wide range of dishes was served up
at the event, including chili, cookies,
salads, chicken nuggets and a vast
variety of sweets. With a ticket,
attendants were able to choose as many
small portions as they could fit on
their plate.
Seven-year-old Patrick Kearns sat
with his family in front of a plate
piled high with options including
meatballs, corn salad and cookies. It
was the second round of the night for
his son who will eat just about
anything, joked father David Kearns.
“I think it’s really good,” Patrick
said. His favorite dishes — the macaroni
and chocolate chip cookies.
The Rev. Carey Ingram of Lovejoy
Baptist Church helped out at the event
for his second year. He piled up a plate
with food after trying to help other
church volunteers serve the long line of
attendees — although the ladies wouldn’t
let him do much, he said.
Ingram smoked the turkey for his
church’s dish, although he had a little
extra help. He didn’t quite get it
cooked through, so one of the women had
to stick it in the oven Friday morning
for some “last-minute touchups,” he
admitted.
“This is always fun,” Ingram said. “I
think (the response) is tremendous, as
it should be. The bottom line is that
people want to do good.” |
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Lynn Dempsey
was recently
interviewed by the
Rome News Tribune
for Business Minute
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60 SECONDS WITH: Lynn Dempsey |
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11/16/03
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Name: Lynn Dempsey Age: 51 Company: Dempsey Auction Co., specializes in real estate auctions Education: Bachelor’s of business administration, major in real estate from University of Georgia
‘I believe that business thrives on honest, good-faith dealings, and we’ve been blessed because this is a very religiously-oriented region.’
What do you see happening in the U.S. economy? We’re approaching election year. I don’t remember an off presidential election year. I think these tax cuts have phased in and had a real effect on our economy. People are investing in the stock market again. It’s really doing well, but the last year to year and a half has really turned people’s eyes toward real estate. I don’t think there’s a better real estate market in the Southeast than within an hour of Atlanta in any direction.
How is that affecting business in Northwest Georgia? It’s simply the best economy I can remember since I’ve been in business for 30 years. Since the Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996 this has become a world market that it wasn’t before. I’m very, very pleased with the evolution of the planning process in our community. That is central to continued upward pressure on the price of real estate.
What is the most surprising business trend you have seen in the past three years? Rome and Floyd County’s emergence as a real leader in industrial growth and expansion in Northwest Georgia and in the state. Rome and Floyd County have exhibited some very significant leadership and have been just a shining example for a public-private partnership. That was not where we were trending 10 years ago.
How has your business changed in that time? A rising tide lifts all boats. As business and industry find Rome-Floyd County and Northwest Georgia as a viable world market, it’s just putting us all in an enviable position. If you own, if you develop, if you speculate in real estate, it’s a good bet you’re going to do well.
What short-term changes do you see ahead for your company? Dealing with the growth. Planning for and managing growth. Success is one of the hardest things in the world to manage, because you can become a little lax or lackadaisical.
What is the long-term outlook for the company? The Internet has revolutionized our business. I feel like our purchasers are more prepared than they’ve ever been before by the information we can furnish them prior to auctioning these properties. I see a time in the next 10 years where most auctions will have a live-bid capacity through the Internet.
What do you see as Northwest Georgia’s greatest strength? Transportation, water and leadership. I’m going to add one. I think this region’s greatest strength is our churches. I believe that business thrives on honest, good-faith dealings, and we’ve been blessed because this is a very religiously-oriented region. Business thrives where you’ve got straight-forward, honest dealings. Talking to people in other parts of the country, that’s one of their greatest challenges.
What do you see as the region’s greatest weakness? A lack of vision. If we do not act as a region we will not be able to compete with those regions that are working together. Dalton, Rome, Cartersville, Calhoun are so used to being in competition with each other, but now it is very vital for us to work together in attracting new business and industry.
What experience best prepared you for your career? All in the world I have ever known is this business. It’s a family business. I’ve been going to auctions for as long as I can remember. I have come to believe that it’s just the best way in the world to market property, most types of real estate.
Who had the biggest influence on your career? I’ve been partners with my brother for 30 years. He’s the CEO of our company, Ray. He is the best example I know of an honest business man who’s excited about what he’s doing.
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GA Trend Feature Article
SUNSET LAND AUCTION ARTICLE
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