First slug of Priest Lake lots set for auction

SANDPOINT — More than 60 state lease lots at Priest Lake will be up for auction next month, the Idaho Department of Lands has announced.

The auction is set for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, according to an IDL legal notice scheduled to be published on Thursday.

It’s the first auction of its kind at Priest Lake and involves 62 lots that were initially part of a land exchange process that did not pan out.

The Land Board voted in 2010 to divest the state’s interest at cottage site lots at Priest and Payette lakes and reinvest in land assets that produce higher returns for land trust beneficiaries, which include Idaho public schools.

The lots can’t be placed on the open market because the Idaho Constitution requires state endowment lands to be sold at auction.

Emily Callihan, an IDL spokeswoman, said the board opted to auction this first round of lots at Priest Lake because those lessees willingly applied to participate in the auction process and already had their financing squared away and titles vetted.

“Part of the reason that the Land Board chose to make this opportunity available is because, through the land exchange due-diligence process, they were all teed up,” said Callihan. “These were basically ready to go.”

There have already been two similar auctions at Payette Lake since last October, which resulted in the 34 lots there shifting from state to private ownership. Those auctions generated nearly $12 million.

“The people who own homes at that lake are a little more accustomed to the process, but this is entirely new for Priest Lake. They have not been through this before,” said Callihan.

Only the land is up for auction and the minimum bids are based on third-party appraisals. The prices for homes and improvements upon the land are set prior to the auction.

If the current lessee is outbid by another auction participant, the winning bidder must pay the homeowner for the value of the improvements after the auction.

Auction participants who are not the homeowner or current lessee must come to the auction with a $50,000 cashier’s check for each lot they want to bid on. They are encouraged to contact Corbett Bottles Real Estate Marketing (www.corbettbottles.com) prior to the auction.

There are more than 350 lease lots at Priest Lake.

“There will be opportunities next year for other auctions,” Callihan said.