NEWPORT BEACH : ‘People’s Park’ Sold at Auction

A narrow stretch of bay-front property known as People’s Park has been sold by the city at an auction.

The highest bid on the parcel was $315,000 in cash, about $10,000 below its appraised value, Deputy City Manager Ken Delino said.

Because the sale price was below the appraised value, the City Council must approve the sale.

Delino identified the property’s purchaser as Bob Sullivan, a Newport Beach developer.

The vacant lot at the corner of River Avenue and 43rd Street was seized by the city 53 years ago for non-payment of taxes and has been cared for by a neighbor since the 1960s.

The fate of the parcel has been debated between those who want it to become a park and those who consider it an eyesore.

But after residents voted overwhelmingly last November to allow sale of the land, the city authorized Thursday’s auction.

Delino said the city finally unloaded the property because “we needed the money.”

On Friday, there was still a For Sale sign on the property, which was filled with wood chips and sported a couple of palm trees standing like goal posts.

The land is separated from the bay by a cement bulkhead that could be used to erect a dock.

“It is the last piece of green in West Newport,” said Jack Alward, a neighbor who planted the palms on the property 25 years ago.

Alward, who bid $200,000 at the auction Thursday, has fought for many years to have the vacant lot turned into a park.

The 45-minute auction started with eight sealed bids. Once open bidding began, offers reached $315,000, said Delino, who conducted the auction at City Hall.

City Manager Kevin J. Murphy said the staff will recommend that the City Council accept the all-cash bid for the parcel.

Murphy said the lot is the first of three properties that Newport Beach hopes to sell this year to raise about $1 million.

The two others are the old West Newport Library site at 6000 Coast Highway and the old Balboa Fire Station at 323 Marina Ave.