Posted 11:23 pm Tuesday, January 08, 2013
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Bids for Lon Morris open on Monday
Bidders can make offers on Lon Morris College's facilities and land in this month's auction, the company preparing to auction the campus, AmeriBid, announced Monday.
During the auction, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at McKool Smith law firm in Dallas, bidders will be able to make offers on 16 different groupings, according to a news release.
AmeriBid spokesman Carl Carter said that essentially means bidders can make offers specifically based on what they have a need for.
"What they've done is finally decide what chunk we're selling it in," he said. "In other words, if we just offer all the property in its entirety, we limit bidders to those who have a need for all that. ... (But) by setting it out into 16 lots then we open the way for somebody who is interested in (a particular asset)."
Lon Morris filed bankruptcy in July after ongoing financial problems. In August, the college announced it would close.
Most classroom buildings, dormitories, the cafeteria and other facilities will sell as a single lot, which will grab the attention of bidders looking for a space for a college, AmeriBid President Stephen Karbelk said in a news release.
He said the Wilson Administration Center will sell either with the larger campus or as a one-building lot with surrounding land and parking.
Carter added, "I could see it as a branch office for a bank or a multitenant office building so it made sense to offer it as a (individual) unit."
Additionally, athletic facilities will be part of several groupings, and several homes owned by Lon Morris are expected to sell individually, according to a news release.
Carter said a YMCA or health club might have an interest in the gymnasium or a small church might want to have the chapel for a new facility.
He said bidders will submit sealed bids on what they are interested in, and people will be able to bid a raise on existing offers.
In the end, the assets will be sold at "whatever brings the best price for the college," he said.
Any sale is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court, and a confirmation hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4.
Monday's auction announcement is the latest announcement related to the Lon Morris bankruptcy estate.
The financially strapped institution filed a voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in July after bleeding millions of dollars since at least the 2007-08 school year, when college representatives said the school embarked on a costly plan to grow enrollment.
In August, the college learned it would lose federal student aid and subsequently decided to suspend the fall semester. Attorney Hugh Ray III, who represents the bankruptcy estate, has said that changed the nature of the case, which went from selling an operating facility to instead auctioning its assets as real estate.
Ray said last month that the estate is expecting a successful and profitable auction.
