Property Not So Hot After All : City Can’t Find Buyer for Landmark Silver Lake Fire Station

Maybe they should have a fire sale.

That may be the only way to find a buyer for a historic Silver Lake fire station that has stood vacant since its firefighters answered their final alarm five years ago.

Auctions certainly are not working, Los Angeles public works officials acknowledged Friday, as they tried unsuccessfully for the second time to sell the landmark firehouse.

Only one potential buyer showed up at City Hall when Bureau of Engineering real estate officers put 70-year-old Fire Station 56 under the auctioneer’s hammer.

And he decided at the last second that he was not willing to cough up the $271,500 minimum bid.

“Looking around the room and seeing I was the only one here scared me to death,” said Michael Kellerman, a Hollywood resident who owns Hollywood Fantasy Tours.

“I’m wondering if other people know something I don’t. Like whether the plumbing is shot or the wiring is bad or maybe I’d be buying a building full of bodies or something.”

Built in 1924 to blend in with bungalow homes along Rowena Avenue, the Mediterranean Revival-style firehouse has a red tile roof, buff-colored brick walls and a cream terra-cotta trim. It was abandoned in early 1989 when a fire station was built half a block away.

City officials had figured that old Fire Station 56 would quickly be snapped up by someone interested in converting it into a trendy restaurant, architect’s office or artist’s studio.

But their first auction attempt three years ago fizzled when the winning bidder changed his mind and withdrew his $500,000 offer.

A bidding war among about 10 interested buyers had broken out that time and officials were hoping the same thing would happen Friday.

Although the firehouse needs about $80,000 in earthquake retrofitting and some interior repairs, “it’s a diamond in the rough,” said Steve Rosenberg, a city real estate officer.

Rosenberg said he will try again next year to auction it off. He said he is not certain whether he will lower the asking price.

As for Kellerman, he did not know whether to kick himself or pat himself on the back for passing up the fire station. So he promised to return for the next auction--looking for other bidders as well as for a deal.