Auction to center on office building

The building does not look like much: empty, windowless, with the first three floors having been boarded. But city officials hope it may bring a jackpot to the municipal coffers next week.
The eight-story former office building at 144 S. Harrison St. is part of a three-lot package which officials plan to sell during the city’s 24th property auction. It is scheduled for March 18 at 11 a.m. in the City Council chambers in City Hall.
The building, located on nearly 35,000 square feet, will be joined in the package by two vacant lots at 103 and 107 Evergreen Place. The 9,200-square-foot lots are a short distance south of the Brick Church train station.
William McNeely, chief of staff for Mayor Robert Bowser and the city’s auctioneer, is scheduled to sell 13 parcels during the auction. If McNeely drops the gavel at the minimum bids for all the parcels, the city would stand to receive nearly $1.4 million. The minimum bid for the Evergreen-South Harrison parcel is $800,000.
“There seems to be a lot of interest in this property,” McNeely said Tuesday. “We want this property to be developed, especially with the property across the street, at 141, having been developed.”

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