Five Priest Lake endowment lots sold in auction
CAROLINE LOBSINGER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 months AGO
A view from a home on Powerline Road in Coolin, one of a handful of endowment land sites that was up for bid in an Aug. 23 auction by the Idaho Department of Lands.
Photo courtesy IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF LANDS
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PRIEST LAKE — Five of eight state endowment lots up for sale at an Aug. 23 auction sold for just over $7.9 million. The remaining three lots received no bids and were not sold.
Current leaseholders purchased four of the five lots receiving bids, with the remaining lot won by a non-lessee bidder. The winning non-lessee bidders will pay the amount bid for the land and the appraised value of the personal property, which is also owned by the endowment.
One of the properties that sold was an unleased lot that also has a home on it, Idaho Department of Lands officials said in announcing auction results.
Six of the lots were leased and include cabins owned by leaseholders. Two lots are unleased, one of which also has a cabin. That cabin is owned by the endowment. The lots were appraised at just over $10.4 million.
The eight Priest Lake properties up for auction include a mix of leased and unleased lots, all located in Coolin. Among them are two lots on Eight Mile Road — one at 364 Eight Mile Road and another at 395 Eight Mile Road. Also included is a lot at 172 Rosalia Bay Loop and another at 1449 Priest Lake Shore Drive.
If a winning bid comes from someone other than the current leaseholder, the bidder must pay the leaseholder the appraised value of the cabin and any personal property on the lot. For the unleased lot with a cabin, the value of the personal property is included in the appraised price.
The Idaho Constitution requires a public auction for the sale of endowment lands managed by the State Board of Land Commissioners and the Department of Lands. The Land Board previously voted to auction the lots over time rather than continue leasing them.
The Department of Lands manages 2.5 million acres of state endowment trust land under the direction of the Land Board, which is constitutionally mandated to maximize long-term financial returns for nine public beneficiaries, including Idaho’s public schools.
In 2010, the Land Board approved a plan to gradually divest the state’s ownership of cottage sites. The board authorized the department to auction the remaining residential lake lots through 2039. Future auctions will include unleased lots at both Priest and Payette lakes.
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