“No sales come out of auction, yet”

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, March 21, 2001

“None of the winning bidders in a real estate action two weeks ago have anything to show for their efforts yet as none of the bids has been accepted by the seller.The well-advertised auction, held at the Useless Bay Golf and Country Club on March 10, put nine properties up for sale for South Whidbey builder Chris Kelly. According to the auctioneers, Auctions Incorporated, Kelly chose to auction the properties off rather than have them foreclosed upon by the banks financing his construction projects.The highest profile bid, a $270,000 offer for more than 16 acres of commercial property in Freeland, was one of the offers that was rejected by Kelly. The bid was made by the Friends of Freeland, a group that is trying to save a portion of Freeland’s commercial district from development. Herb Hunt, a spokesman for the group, said Friday that the group’s winning bid was turned down by Kelly, who had three business days under terms of the auction to accept or reject offers. Even so, the group held a celebration party Saturday to recognize the group’s common goal and to talk about upcoming projects.The Friends were not alone in their rejection. On Monday, Elaine Sutter, an employee of Auctions Incorporated confirmed that none of the auction bids had been accepted. She said some of the bidders are in negotiations with Kelly.There is nothing to report yet, she said.Languishing along with the Friends’ bid was a $200,000 offer for the year-old Deception Pass Visitors Center, which was originally offered for $800,000 at the auction. Also turned down were bids for three new homes and a residential lot. “