Condos hit auction block

Fourteen luxury condos in the heart of downtown Winter Park will be auctioned off on May 16, but the story behind it is different than most.

The developer’s not bankrupt and a bank isn’t trying to unload the property from its rolls. It’s business.

"I’m not being forced to do this," said Winter Park developer Doug Hoeksema of Douglas Partners, "but there is a significant carrying cost of having high-end property like this."

The 14 three-bedroom units are at the Douglas Grand at Winter Park, a stone’s throw from the Winter Park Farmer’s Market, on Morse Boulevard and New York Avenue.

Fourteen luxury condos in the heart of downtown Winter Park will be auctioned off on May 16, but the story behind it is different than most.Hoeksema began planning the 42-unit project in 2003, at the height of the real estate boom. But it wasn’t finished until 2008.

"By the time it was planned and built, the real estate market was not nearly as robust as when we started," he said.

Of the 42 units, 16 have sold; 14 will be auctioned this month.

"The auction is an opportunity for us to sell a significant number of units and lower our carrying costs over time," he said.

The minimum bid prices range between $379,000 for townhomes and $415,000 for flats, which are about 50 percent below the last asking price.

Douglas Partners has brought in Accelerated Marketing Partners, a firm that specializes in high-end property auctions, to facilitate the auction and the marketing surrounding it.

"We specialize in really creating a market for properties where there’s been a disconnect in terms of pricing between the buyer and the seller," said Jon Gollinger, east coast CEO of Accelerated Marketing Partners. "The market needs transparency and we’re dealing with sellers that can take a hit to yesterday’s value."

Gollinger said the demand for auction services has increased since the economic downturn.

"It’s still marketing… but the difference is today it’s very difficult to know what something should be priced at," he said. "These programs create a safe environment for the consumer to figure that out and not overpay."

That’s why Accelerated publishes the minimum bids, or reserves. Some companies won’t publish that price, and if a bidder didn’t meet the reserve, she doesn’t get the property. "If someone bids it, then they own it," Gollinger said of the Winter Park auction.

Hoeksema said he hasn’t auctioned a property in his company’s 20 years history, and he knows many probably haven’t participated in one. That’s why Accelerated is hosting a practice auction.

"We will walk them through the whole process," said Christine Hodgson, Accelerated Marketing project manager.

The mock auction will be at the Winter Park Civic Center at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 13, just days before the real production. They’ll review the speed, the bid increments, the check-in procedure and bidders can talk with the auctioneer.

"They will get to see who their competition is and come in confident and excited on auction day," Hodgson said.

Hodgson’s been giving tours of the units since May 28 and said there’s been a steady flow of folks. They’re open through May 15.

Gollinger and Hoeksema said the auction passes the savings on to the consumer.

"I assure you two years from now," Hoeksema said, "we’re going to look back at these sales and are going to be astonished at the low prices."

For more information

Visit DouglasGrandAuction.com or call 407-571-5897.

Fourteen luxury condos in the heart of downtown Winter Park will be auctioned off on May 16, but the story behind it is different than most.

Christine Hodgson, Accelerated Marketing project manager, uses a model of the Douglas Grand at Winter Park to point out where the 14 auction units are located.