Giant Clearance Sale on Real Estate : Thrifts: The government lists 30,000 properties it took over after seizing 281 ailing S&Ls.; It plans to sell them to recoup part of the $300-billion bailout cost.
The federal government provided details on the biggest real estate clearance sale in history Tuesday, listing everything from the $75-million Hyatt Grand Champions hotel near Palm Springs to a $21,000 home in Pittsburg, Tex., among a vast collection of 30,000 properties for sale.
The Resolution Trust Corp., the agency created to sell assets of failed thrifts, unveiled its first full inventory of properties obtained by the government as a result of the seizure of 281 financially crippled savings and loan associations. The S&Ls; had foreclosed on the real estate when loans went bad.
The federal government is selling the properties to recover some of the nearly $300 billion that will be spent on disposing of defunct S&Ls; and paying off depositors.
The list includes such diverse holdings as the Rusty Pelican restaurant in Tempe, Ariz.; the Chandeleur Harbor marina near New Orleans and a $4-million mansion in Malibu.
“The inventory contains approximately 12,000 single-family homes, 2,500 commercial properties and 800 parcels of undeveloped land,” said David C. Cooke, RTC executive director.
“This is our first substantial marketing effort and reflects only a portion of the assets the RTC will ultimately have in its inventory,” he said. “Nonetheless, its size reflects the magnitude of the challenges for the RTC and the opportunities for buyers that lie ahead.”
Release of the list has been widely anticipated, as the RTC has received 22,000 inquiries from people interested in bidding on properties. The RTC is hiring thousands of people to manage the sales; negotiations for some sales have already begun.
The list issued Tuesday is just the first installment. The RTC is expected to take control of at least 200 more S&Ls;, which own a vast array of shopping centers, office buildings, retail stores, condominiums, single family houses and raw land. No one knows the total number of properties that will eventually be offered for sale.
The computerized tally fills nearly 3,000 pages in four volumes and includes 30,000 listings, including in some cases each dock slip in a marina and each apartment in a big condominium development.
The listings include a brief description of each asset and an estimated price. However, many listings contain the initials TBD, “to be determined,” an indication that the value of the property is highly uncertain.
Selling the properties will be a daunting task for RTC officials and local real estate agents or auctioneers hired by the government. They hope to collect as much revenue as possible as quickly as possible without causing local real estate markets to collapse.
The federal government will issue a strategic plan for the RTC today, directing the agency to act rapidly to sell properties and generate revenue.
However, the S&L; rescue legislation that created the RTC also mandated that sale prices should be at least 95% of local market value. Realistic values may be particularly hard to determine in sections of Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, where real estate markets have been depressed for years.
Texas, Colorado and Arizona are heavily represented in the RTC inventory. California has a comparative handful of listings, although it has some of the highest-priced: the $75-million Hyatt Grand at Indian Wells near Palm Springs and a $4-million, 19-room house in Malibu.
Some of the more expensive properties include the Scottsdale Camelback Resort Hotel near Phoenix, $17 million; Parkwood Professional Plaza, a medical office building in Phoenix, $4.2 million; Orchard Pointe, an office building in Englewood, Colo., $9.3 million; Skymark Tower, an office building with polished marble floors in Arlington, Tex., $5.5 million; Regency Plaza, a 16-story office building in Dallas, $13 million; the Bexar Savings Building in San Antonio, $19 million; a mini-mall in Jasper, Tex., $14.5 million, and the Ramada Hotel in Pompano Beach, Fla., $6.5 million.
A wide variety of commercial property is available for sale. Chandeleur Harbor marina in New Orleans, with 89 wet slips, 34 boat sheds, a bait shop and six gas pumps, is priced at $2.8 million. Boat slips are available at $4,400 each in Dock 11 at League City, Tex. The Odessa Car Wash in Odessa, Tex., carries a $120,000 price tag.
Four pages of restaurant listings are offered. The Rusty Pelican in Tempe, Ariz., is priced at $1.9 million, and the Captain’s Walk in Hot Springs, Ark., is listed at $199,500. The Hickory House in Perry, Kan., is up for $35,000, and the Lost Dutchman in Elk City, Okla., is available for $125,000. But no price has been set for the Dairy Queen in Woodland Park, Colo.
The RTC’s four-volume inventory sells for $50. The commercial and land volumes are priced at $10 each, while the two residential volumes sell for $30. The toll-free telephone number for ordering is (800) 431-0600.
Although federal law requires the RTC to issue a revised inventory every six months, Cooke said his agency will begin making asset information available on a more frequent basis. The RTC plans to establish an Asset Information Center offering special services such as a listing of properties for sale in particular cities.
ON THE BLOCK
Properties by type and region listed as available by the Resolution Trust Corp.
Residential East Central Southwest* West** Total Single family 2,161 677 7,100 1,980 11,918 Duplex/triplex/fourplex 495 61 2,039 127 2,722 Mobile homes 63 4 167 197 431 Multifamily 311 57 1,004 184 1,556 Condominiums 1,522 94 3,563 1,284 6,463 Lots 493 41 299 246 1,079 Other 198 119 1,622 705 2,644 Commercial Office 164 43 400 166 773 Retail 26 11 224 48 309 Hotel/motel 67 5 67 19 158 Resort 28 4 159 14 205 Industrial 21 5 129 81 236 Restaurant 15 5 21 10 51 Special 189 42 429 124 784 Land Agricultural 18 10 3 19 50 Unimproved 193 49 93 366 701 Mining 29 3 6 5 43 TOTAL 5,993 1,230 17,325 5,575 30,123
* Texas and Oklahoma
** California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii.
Source: Resolution Trust Corp.
