SALISBURY TWP., Pa — After years of sitting vacant, the former multi-million-dollar Salisbury Township mansion has an official offer to buy it.
Not for the $1 price tag the township purchased it for, but for $795,008, after a weeklong online auction for the property ended Wednesday.
The bidder's identity was not immediately released.
The 18,500-square-foot mansion at 3015 Barrington Lane previously held a $6.4 million value until an early-morning fire took down the compound's turret and remediation efforts stripped the interior to its studs because of smoke damage.
"It's very nice here. I like big houses, but what concerns me is the amount of taxes."Prospective bidder Albert Chahoud
The six-bedroom, 22-bathroom mansion, complete with an en suite home next door, was sold in as-is condition, with no contingencies.
The county last assessed its value at $1.3 million, leaving its total estimated taxes at $41,528.33, according to Lehigh County online property records.
That number concerned at least one guest at the property's open house.
"It's very nice here," Albert Chahoud said of the mansion and surrounding area. "I like big houses, but what concerns me is the amount of taxes."
It seems Chahoud, of Allentown, might not have been the only one concerned with the compound's property taxes.
Tranzon/Alderfer, the company auctioning the 4.62-acre property, sent an email with an update regarding taxes.
"This is to confirm the current taxes on the property at 3015 Barrington Lane, Allentown, PA are $55,210," the email said. "This is a reassessment after the fire and the taxes prior to the fire were $114,515."
The email also advised that taxes are "subject to change" after renovations.
'I'm just here to look'
Some serious buyers felt it wasn't worth the investment.
Mike McHugh described himself as a "local real estate investor," and said that's what brought him to the property, but after touring the compound, McHugh said it seems more like a "tear down" project than a renovation.
"Coming in, I was hoping that it was something that would work," he said. "But the fire aside, there's a lot of damage from deferred maintenance."
Over the course of the mansion's two open house dates, realtors Bob Dann and Michelle Hunsberger said it was "very busy," and went as expected.
"I thought, 'Why the hell not?' It's really just curiosity."Norman Moses, of Allentown, who toured the property
Dann said there were a lot of "lookers," who the pair described as residents who were curious about the property, and there were some serious buyers.
"People would walk in and say, 'I'm just here to look,'" Dann said at the second open house on Oct. 6.
Norman Moses, of Allentown, was among them.
He said he knew of the Grubes — the former owners of the mansion before Ravenwood Manor LLC purchased the home from them for $6.4 million.
He parked his car at Lindberg Park and took the eight-minute walk down to the property after seeing an ad about the open house.
"I thought, 'Why the hell not?'" Moses said with a chuckle, adding, "it's really just curiosity," that brought him to the home.
And after touring the inside, Moses joked that "you almost need a GPS to get around the house."
There was enough foot traffic that an email from Tranzon/Alderfer on Oct. 7 announced the company added a third open house on Thursday, Oct. 10 — the day before bidding opened on the compound.
'Going through final steps'
The auction opened with a starting bid of $400,000, with three other bids put in by different bidders up to more than $700,000. On Oct. 16, a final bid was entered at $795,008.
According to the Alderfer property webpage, the winning bidder will be required to provide a 10% deposit of the total purchase price, a 10% buyers premium based on the high bid, a 2.5% buyer's agent fee and close within 60 days after township approval.
"Nothing is final until the Board of Commissioners have a chance to review and discuss at next week’s meeting."Cathy Bonaskiewich, Salisbury Township Manager
The sale is pending the township's approval, township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich said in an email Wednesday afternoon.
She said Tranzon/Alderfer is "going through their final steps as we speak."
"Nothing is final until the Board of Commissioners have a chance to review and discuss at next week’s meeting," Bonaskiewich said.
Salisbury Township footed several bills for the property after acquiring it for $1 when Ravenwood Manor LLC donated it.
To date, according to township commissioner's agendas, those include: Salisbury School District property taxes for $31,139.38, $14,950.29 in settlement fees, $7,800 for landscaping, $1,000 for "Barrington Ln Road Opening," $1,847.23 for Allentown Fire Department to move the flagpole to Franko Park and $82.50 for Monks Security Systems monthly monitoring.
Commissioners meeting agendas show the township was billed $31,139.38 in Salisbury School District property taxes on July 1 and previously spent $14,950.29 in settlement fees.
That totals to $56,819.40, meaning the township might make $738,000 from the sale of the compound.
And there's still more money to be made.
Four pieces of taxidermy were left behind at the home — presumably belonging to William Grube, who was known for his "trophy room."
Among them is what appears to be African wildlife. The township approved a motion to sell the taxidermy at one of PA Auction Center's auctions.
