Land on AUCTION BLOCK as parish unloads 100s of properties

St. Charles Parish will auction off over 300 properties – mostly vacant lots – in an effort to put the land back into commerce and relieve the liabilities now born by the parish. The sale is set for May 5 at the Destrehan High School auditorium.

All of the properties have been adjudicated, meaning they are free from liens or taxes.

The auction is straightforward -the highest bid wins the property and no minimum bids required.

Francis Braud, speaking for Gilmore and Associates Auction and Realty, the firm that’s handling the auction, said many of the properties lie north of Airline Highway.

“This is a great way for the parish to clean up all of their adjudicated properties at one time,” Braud said.

“They can now start getting them back into commerce.”

It’s beneficial for the parish if the properties do go back into commerce because they will then generate tax revenue.

As it stands, the properties do little more than expose the parish to litigation.

“Say if one property has a tree on it and that tree falls onto someone else’s property, the parish is at fault,” Braud said.

This auction may be the first of its kind in St. Charles, but it’s a tried-and-true method in wide use in 46 states and also many other parishes in Louisiana,

“We’ve helped Jefferson Parish remove over 1,500 parcels of land with auctions over the last three years,” Braud said.

Braud said St. Charles Parish was careful not to put up anyone’s property for sale without going through the legal notification process, which costs about $1,300 for each property.

The parish is eating that cost, he said.

“This is a serious commitment on the parish’s part to get these properties back on the tax rolls,” he explained.

For more information on the properties and to see overhead satellite photos of each parcel, go to www.gilmoreauction.com.

 

Questions? Comments? E-mail Caleb Frey at calebf@heraldguide.com