Online auction gets no bidders for mall space

An online auction last month failed to attract any bidders for a portion of the former Gateway West Mall owned by American Capital Management.

The nonprofit Gateway Community Center is still interested in purchasing the facility, however, United Way Director Sherry Stevens said Thursday.

United Way is the fiscal agent and project facilitator for Gateway Community Center and the umbrella under which the other nonprofit groups operate at the mall building.

Gateway Community Center had asked American Capital to postpone the original May 19 auction date until June 15, but the center’s attorney then advised the center’s leaders not to participate in the online auction.

“Our intention is still to move forward in trying to purchase the facility,” Stevens said. “Our Realtor has been encouraged to contact their Realtor. We’re letting the professionals handle it at this point.”

Stevens added that the center’s lawyer is in touch with American Capital’s legal counsel.

American Capital, of Santa Barbara, California, privately owns 100,643 square feet of the mall building and placed the facility for sale at Auction.com for a starting bid of $600,000.

Gateway Community Center leases more than 52,000 square feet from American Capital to accommodate various nonprofit agencies serving Northwest Montana.

Another portion of the mall — 60,000 square feet occupied by the TeleTech call center — is owned by the Flathead County Economic Development Authority and wasn’t part of the online auction.

The transformation of the mall into a community center materialized in 2009 with a 10-year lease with American Capital that expires in 2019.

Over the past six years, community volunteers have donated $850,000 in in-kind contributions and labor.

“We are still committed to the investment the volunteers and community have made in the project,” Stevens said. “We’re very conscious of making sure that investment is protected.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.