UPDATE (11/29): Sources with the brokerage firm overseeing the auction have confirmed to the Rant that the shopping center is under contract following a winning bid, but declined to name the potential buyer.
ORIGINAL POST: If you’ve ever dreamed of owning your own shopping center, get your checkbook out: Riverbirch Corner in west Sanford is in foreclosure as of Thursday and is set to be sold at auction in less than a month, the Rant has learned.
Commercial real estate broker Holliday GP Corp. lists the 205,000-plus square foot shopping center, which sits on 35 acres on Spring Lane, as a “$12.1 million non-performing loan” that, as of Sept. 2, was 86 percent occupied. It is currently owned by Charlotte-based Genesis Properties.
The bid process for the auction will run from November 6 to November 8, with a minimum opening bid of $2.75 million. Lee County lists the property’s tax value at $11.3 million.
Built in 1985, Riverbirch is currently home to several chain clothing stores (Belk, J.C. Penney, Roses), a Hibbett Sports, a Rite Aid pharmacy, shops such as Bath & Body Works and Hallmark, and more. It had previously served as home to Elizabeth’s Pizza and a Winn Dixie grocery store.
