GILROY
–– It was
”
Going once, going twice,
”
and the Indian Motorcycle headquarters on Tenth Street was sold
to Hollister developer and vineyard owner Ken Gimelli for $3.35
million.
After signing the papers to seal the deal, Gimelli told
reporters he planned to rent the building to anyone who is
interested. He had no particular tenants in mind, he said, and none
had approached him.
GILROY –– It was “Going once, going twice,” and the Indian Motorcycle headquarters on Tenth Street was sold to Hollister developer and vineyard owner Ken Gimelli for $3.35 million.
After signing the papers to seal the deal, Gimelli told reporters he planned to rent the building to anyone who is interested. He had no particular tenants in mind, he said, and none had approached him.
Gimelli said he would be open to a new Indian Motorcycle owner occupying the space, but he would not play a role in encouraging a new owner to build bikes in Gilroy.
Gimelli entered the only bid from the floor in an auction for the single piece of real estate Wednesday afternoon at the Historic Strand Theater, in downtown Gilroy.
“I think it’s a buy,” was Gimelli’s only comment afterward.
The only other bid was a written submission for $3.3 million – the “absolute minimum” the auctioneers were willing to accept to clear liens on the property, according to Fred Havens, vice president of marketing for auctioneer Mario Piatelli’s Beverly Hills-based firm.
On top of Gimelli’s bid offer, he paid a 6 percent “buyer’s premium” for the auctioneer’s commission and expenses, bringing his total payment to $3,551,000.
Gimelli is an industrial developer in Hollister and owns a portion of the Hollister Business Park. He also owns Gimelli Vineyards in the Hollister area, which sells grapes to large-scale wine maker Kendall-Jackson, according to Havens, who said he knows this from recently selling a Kendall-Jackson winery in King City.
About a dozen people were present at the Strand Theater for the auction. Conspicuously absent were Melvin and Rey Sotelo, who are leading investment groups committed to buying the Indian brand and restarting motorcycle production in Gilroy.
Piatelli had advertised on his Web site that this property was worth $10 million, but he opened the auction by saying, “We think the property is worth $5 million.” He opened the bidding at that amount but got no takers. Hands stayed down as Piatelli dropped the price by $100,000 increments.
When Piatelli got as low as $3.3 million, he announced the written bid and asked for a raise. Gimelli immediately made his offer, which was uncontested.
The auction lasted about 15 minutes.
The 200 East Tenth St. property consists of a 154,000-square-foot factory on a 274,000-square-foot lot. Gimelli bought it from the Credit Managers Association of California, to which the motorcycle maker assigned the property. CMA will use Gimelli’s $3.35 million to pay Indian’s many creditors, including Manabi Hirasaki, the deed holder for the 200 E. Tenth St. property, to whom Indian had stopped making mortgage payments. Hirasaki was present at the auction Wednesday but declined comment.
The amount Melvin paid for Indian’s inventory, which neither he nor CMA officials would name, also will go to pay Indian’s creditors.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, at the 200 East Tenth St. factory Gimelli bought, Michigan retail liquidator Bill Melvin opened a piecemeal sale of the building’s contents, which he now owns: from gaskets to gas tanks, computers to clothing.
Large crowds greeted Melvin and his staff, starting more than an hour and a half before the sale’s 9:30 a.m. opening.
