Priest Lake lots sold at auction
A home at 375 Eight Mile Road is pictured in a screenshot of a real estate auction site. The property was among four sold at public auction Aug. 26 as part of a sale of state endowment trust lands.
The Idaho Department of Lands has sold four endowment-owned lakefront lots at Priest Lake for deeded ownership during a public auction. One unleased lot did not sell.
The public auction generated $6,006,000 — which is $1,012,000 over the appraised value. Of the four properties sold, two had competitive bidding and two had only one bid. The competitive bidding resulted in a 120% overall increase above the appraised value.
All four leased properties auctioned Aug. 26 had homes on them. The land is owned by the public school endowment beneficiary and the cabins and other improvements on the land are owned by leaseholders as personal property. The auction was for the land only.
Three lessees successfully purchased their split estates. The winning bidder for the fourth was a non-lessee who will pay the amount bid for the land and the appraised value of the personal property, which will be reimbursed to the lessee.
The Idaho Constitution requires a public auction for the sale of state endowment trust lands, and IDL can accept no less than the appraised value of the properties.
Under the direction of the State Board of Land Commissioners, IDL manages more than 2.5 million acres of state endowment trust land under a constitutional mandate to maximize long-term financial returns to public schools and several other State of Idaho institutions. The Land Board is comprised of Idaho’s governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state controller, and superintendent of public instruction.
In 2010, the Land Board approved a plan to divest the state’s ownership of cottage sites over time. The Land Board authorized IDL to offer the remaining residential lake lots for auction through 2039. When available, IDL will be auctioning un-leased lots at both lakes.
Including today’s auction, 485 cottage sites have been sold 329 lots at Priest Lake (304 leased and 25 unleased) and 156 lots at Payette Lake (129 leased and 27 unleased) for a total of $259,704,625 for the endowments. There are currently 30 remaining leased lots at Priest Lake and 18 remaining leased lots at Payette Lakes.
Upon the transactions closing, the funds from the land sales will be deposited in the “Land Bank” and may be used to purchase new endowment land in Idaho or may go into a Permanent Fund to continue earning returns for the endowment beneficiaries. In May 2016, the Land Board approved the Strategic Reinvestment Plan and will consider strategic land acquisitions with the proceeds from the sale of cottage sites and commercial properties.