Offers to buy the Port of Port Royal must be in by 5 p.m. May 26, and bid requirements have dropped drastically since the last public offering price, according to a release from Realtor NAI Avant on Thursday afternoon.
The release includes “minimum bid requirements” for part or all of the 317-acre property — 52 acres of which are suitable for building — owned by the S.C. State Ports Authority.
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Those are:
- Port Village: $6,332,800
- Bluff Neighborhood/Ribaut Village: $8,469,600
- Marina Village: $2,639,200
- Whole: $14,825,360
The port has been closed since 2004, when the Ports Authority deemed it too expensive to continue operating. Since 2006, four different developers have tried unsuccessfully to buy it for residential and commercial development.
In March 2013, the asking price for the property was increased from $20.4 million to $22.5 million.
Last summer, an appraisal was done to meet requirements of state legislation passed in the spring. Among those requirements was that the appraisal must be done by a certified appraiser experienced with closed industrial sites. Legislation co-author Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said the intent was to take into account probable environmental conditions and reduce the price.
The legislation also set a minimum sale price of 80 percent of the appraised value.
In November, the Ports Authority entered a $15.42 million contract to sell the land to The Furman Co.
Ports Authority attorney Neil Robinson reiterated Thursday afternoon that the authority will not be releasing the appraised value or the appraisals but said “if you use your reporter’s intuition you can figure it out,” based on the minimum bid requirements.
If $14.8 million is the 80 percent threshold, the current appraised value of the property is $18.5 million.
If the port is not under contract to buy by June 30, ownership will be transferred to General Services Division and go to auction, according to state legislation.
