3 Carson City buildings to be sold through auction

Properties in the heart of Carson City are going on the auction block as Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center looks to sell them quickly.

Three buildings at Sierra Professional Complex in Carson City will sell at an 11 a.m. auction on Nov. 18. The two-story Class A office buildings at 1001 N. Mountain St. were built in 1976 and are 40 percent leased, says Bruce Robertson, with Sperry Van Ness Gold Dust Associates of Carson City.

The 3.5-acre site adjoins a vacant parcel of nearly an acre. "It's an outstanding location, and could be redeveloped," says Robertson.

The buildings are known as the Waters Building at 22,584 square feet, Ross Building at 17,312 square feet and Gilbert Building at 14,506 square feet.

The properties adjoin Carson Tahoe ContinuedCARE and are designated mixed-use residential. Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare has owned the properties since 2000. They have been on the market for eighteen months.

"The auction format lets buyers know we have a motivated seller," says John

Johnson, president of Sperry Van Ness Interstate Auction Company, part of the company's Accelerated Marketing Division in Atlanta. "And that the price a seller is willing to accept is attainable."

Buyers take the property as is, with no finance contingencies, he adds. Auction sales usually close within 30 to 45 days, far faster than the traditional sales process.

Because bidders must put up substantial earnest money " not refundable " the result is a 99.9 percent close rate.

To drum up auction attendees, Sperry Van Ness sent a direct mail piece to 4,000 parties nationwide, says Robertson. The company is also running ads in newspapers, including the West Coast edition of The Wall Street Journal.

The adjoining specialty hospital was formerly the city's main hospital before it moved to the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center campus. The old building, with 146,735 square feet, is now a long-term care center, says Jon Tyler, marketing specialist at Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare.

CHC (Community Hospital Corporation) of Plano, Texas, bought it this spring and owns it as a joint venture with the Carson hospital, which still provides lab services, wound care and diabetes education.