Rosser Reserve lots sell at auction in Windermere

A prominent, longstanding property in Windermere has been auctioned off — opening a new chapter for the future of the land.

The majority of the Rosser Reserve property off Conroy Windermere Road sold for $3.99 million during an auction Wednesday, Aug. 21, at Windermere Town Hall.

Three separate parties purchased the nine lots available for auction — a 10th lot on the property already is owned by a separate party.

Lots 3 and 4 — two of the four available lakefront lots — were purchased by bidder 118 for $1.5 million, while bidder 114 purchased lakefront lot 1 and interior lots 6 through 10 for $1.8 million. Lakefront lot 2 was purchased for $690,000 by bidder 110.

The total contract price — including the buyer’s premium — for all the lots was $4.38 million.

Bidder 118, Todd South, of custom home builders Stonebridge Homes, said he was pleased with the outcome, adding he paid a fair price for the two lakefront properties.

“We have a lot of clients (who) are looking for lakefront property, so hopefully we’ll get together with the other bidders and fix some of the issues in the subdivision and get it moving forward in a positive manner,” South said. “It’s been sitting there vacant for a couple of years, and that’s not good for the property.”

The auction marks a potential transition for a property that has hit several roadblocks. The Rosser Reserve property was intended to be a boutique, 10-home subdivision, but the lots did not sell. As a result, part owner Sue Prosser filed for bankruptcy.

The filing led to a legal battle between Prosser and majority owner Timothy Green, which was settled. 

Real-estate broker and auctioneer Robert Ewald, of Ewald Auctions, was appointed as a plan administrator by the federal bankruptcy court to help bring forth a resolution.

Ewald said the bankruptcy has gone on for about two years. In May, a reorganization plan was approved by the federal bankruptcy court that allowed one of two options: having the owners redeem the property by paying everybody off in full, or, in the event that they didn’t redeem, take it to an auction, sell it and pay everyone according to the judge’s orders.

It was a great turnout at the auction, Ewald said, adding the sale of the property should spark progress.

“Our response on this thing was phenomenal,” Ewald said. “I had (more than) 160 calls on it. We had people downloading documents — everything went the way it was supposed to go. We had a great crowd. Market is market. We had 50 to 60 people here — you put that many people bidding on property (in a room), you’re going to get what it’s worth,” he said.

The property is being sold free and clear of all liens, and the money acquired from the auction will be used to pay three secured creditors and various other costs and fees, subject to the approval of the federal bankruptcy court, Ewald said. 

The results of the auction were set to come before the court Wednesday, Aug. 28, after press time.