No bids placed on three Payette Lake cottage properties

By Idaho Business Review staff

Three properties in McCall on Payette Lake were put up for auction on July 18, however there were no bids on any of the properties.

The properties are held by the Idaho Department of Lands and the agency could not say why there was no interest in them at Friday’s auction.

Land for the properties is held in trust by IDL for the benefit of State Hospital South, and, thus far, 161 cottage-site properties have been sold at auction at Payette Lake, the agency stated in a release. Thirteen sites remain, and all have houses on them. Though the land belongs to the trust, cabins and other improvements made to the land are owned by leaseholders as their personal property.

Bids were started at the reserve or “lot only” price of each lot with the property at 1903 Warren Wagon Road in McCall appraised at $451,000; the property at 2060 Warren Wagon Road at $495,000; and the property at 3800 Warren Wagon Road at $3.25 million.

“While IDL has confidence in the appraised value of the properties for auction [July 18], each property is unique in location and design, and there is no way to determine why there was no interest at this particular time,” a statement from the agency read.

Public auctions for the sale of state endowment trust lands are required by the Idaho Constitution and IDL cannot accept less than the appraised value of each property.

Along with the properties at Payette Lake, there are 337 lots at Priest Lake, 312 of which have been leased, and the total of the properties brought in at public auction is $277.1 million.

“Upon the transactions closing, the funds from the land sales will be deposited in the ‘Land Bank’ and may be used to purchase new endowment land in Idaho or may go into a Permanent Fund to continue earning returns for the endowment beneficiaries,” a release stated. “In May 2016, the Land Board approved the Strategic Reinvestment Plan and will consider strategic land acquisitions with the proceeds from the sale of cottage sites and commercial properties.”