For the second time in less than a year, units at a major Center City condominium building will be offered at auction.
Thirty-six condos at the Phoenix, 1600-18 Arch St., are set to go on the block April 29: 18 one-bedroom/one-bath units; 16 units with one bedroom plus den and 1 1/2 or two baths, and two two-bedroom-plus-den/two-bath units.
Minimum reserve prices will range from $185,000 to $415,000. Some of the condos are unfinished, but will be completed for closing.
In June, 42 units were sold at auction at the Murano, the bluish glass-and-steel high-rise at 21st and Market Streets. Of those, 35 went to closing.
At the Murano, Jon Gollinger, president of Accelerated Marketing Partners of Boston, ran the show. He will at the Phoenix auction, too,
"I've grown to love this city," said Gollinger, who was scheduled to meet with the building's 119 condo owners Wednesday night before news of the auction became public Thursday.
The auction will take place at 7 p.m. April 29 at the Westin Philadelphia, 99 S. 17th St. Gollinger said the date was "deliberately chosen" to take advantage of the federal tax credits, which require that agreements of sale be executed by April 30.
Daniel J. Keating 3d, president and CEO of the Keating Organization, which owns the Phoenix, "didn't want to take any chances" of missing out on the tax credits, Gollinger said. Keating was traveling on the West Coast and was not available for comment.
Buyers who are eligible for a tax credit - up to $8,000 for qualified first-time buyers or up to $6,500 for repeat buyers who have not purchased a primary residence in less than five years - must close on the sales by June 30.
The minimum reserve bids are 47 percent to 39 percent below the last asking prices for the units, Gollinger said, adding that he expected the Phoenix auction to set a "pricing floor" for the units, just as the Murano's did.
After the Murano auction, 43 more units were sold there (41 went to settlement). Some observers think the hype spilled over into the rest of the Center City condo market, at least for awhile.
"The auction at the Murano condominiums changed prices within the building - not only in the eyes of potential buyers, but also from an appraiser's point of view," said Mark Wade, an associate broker with Prudential Fox & Roach. "I believe that latter effect has really cemented values at that address for a while to come."
