Venture to auction properties in H.P.
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, May 21, 2007
High Point — Alpha World Properties, a commercial real estate firm here, has partnered with Chicago-based Inland Real Estate Auctions to promote auction sales of High Point-area furniture properties.
The venture will allow the companies to promote the properties worldwide to prospective buyers in and outside the furniture industry.
It will target furniture showrooms, stores, warehouse and distribution space and other light industrial furniture properties.
"The auction process is an effective tool to find buyers down the street or internationally," said Frank Diliberto, president and CEO of Inland Real Estate Auctions. "Specialized properties, such as large-scale furniture showrooms or distribution centers, are ideal for large-scale users. Often times, you need to reach beyond the local or regional markets to find the right buyers."
Inland's parent company is among the top five shopping center owners in North America, with some 100 million square feet of commercial real estate in its portfolio and managed assets of more than $17 billion.
After Alpha World Properties President Audie Cashion and others contacted Inland about possibly selling High Point real estate, Inland sent a representative to the city in early April to look at several hundred thousand square feet of showroom and distribution space.
"I think it's a viable marketplace for sure and will be viable for some alternative uses there," Diliberto said.
Cashion said the term "auction" often is associated with bankruptcies, estate sales or foreclosures. But in this case, he said, it doesn't necessarily have a negative connotation for the area's furniture market.
Instead, he said, an auction can help expedite the sale of properties, in part by removing contingencies that otherwise might hold up deals.
"It shortens the sales cycle and maximizes the sales price," Cashion said, adding that sales could involve multiple bidders who know of properties through a national or international ad campaign. "It's a very consolidated effort that draws the best buyers."
Cashion believes the venture is timely because of the industry's ongoing transition. Competition at the retail level, combined with tightened spending, has caused some local retailers to close their doors. And the High Point Market faces competition from the growing Las Vegas Market, as well as emerging shows in Asia.
"It will shine a very bright light on High Point and the opportunities that are here," Cashion said.
The companies already are looking to market eight properties in the area, although he declined to identify them at this early stage. He said the venture also will market furniture properties in other areas of North Carolina.
