Case Studies

SUMMARY: Many companies are downsizing or consolidating their operations and find themselves in the difficult situation of selling corporate real estate in a market that is buyer challenged.

CHALLENGE:: A company needs to sell quickly to avoid incurring additional holding costs, while selling at the highest possible price, is why many are turning to auctions as a sales solution.

IMPLEMENTATION – AUCTION #1: A candy manufacturer in Roswell, New Mexico consolidating its operations decided to sell their ±104,000SF warehouse and operations building. The property garnered a lot of interest from local business owners when auction signage was installed onsite. After research and planning sessions, LFC’s auction marketing team determined that this type of property could also be attractive to any company expanding its operations

RESULTS: A national advertising campaign to brokers, investors and industrial/manufacturing corporations was launched resulting in 1,800 visits to the event page and 18 registered prospects who took the next step by downloading the due diligence materials. Sealed bids were submitted and a final price was reached with a buyer who was able to close in two weeks.

IMPLEMENTATION – AUCTION #2: Another large corporation in the midst of consolidation had three manufacturing and distribution facilities on the market for quite some time before coming to the conclusion that an auction would deliver a quick, non-contingent sale at the best price. The portfolio of properties included a ±160,000SF building on 32 acres near Logan, Utah, a massive ±675,000SF building on 43 acres, and a historic ±165,000SF building in central Wisconsin. The advertising campaign consisted of: press releases distributed nationally; local and regional newspaper ads; property listings on LoopNet, Catylist, PropertyAuction, PropertyLine and the local MLS; an email campaign via brokerage and investor channels; and banner advertising on leading commercial and industrial websites. A concerted marketing effort by the local co-brokers on each property to their buyer and broker databases, and any previous prospects that showed interest in the property, contributed to the success of the auction campaign

RESULTS: By the bid deadline, the auction campaign received over 6,200 visits to the event page and 82 registered prospects. The Utah property sold in sealed bid, while the historic building in Wisconsin experienced strong, competitive bidding after the highest sealed bid of $213,000 was published on the website. After a week of Last Call® bidding, the final bid of $435,000 was placed: more than 50% over the highest sealed bid. The Last Call bidding scenario outpaced the typical 18-20% increase, which definitively demonstrated the power of the bid extension feature, and by far exceeded the seller’s expectations.