The Greater Des Moines Partnership Building is going on the auction block. Bidding on the 10-story office and retail property at 700 Locust St. is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. today on www.auction.com.
 
In October 2009, MidFirst Bank, operating as CSA11-700 Locust LLC, acquired the building via a sheriff’s sale for $2.7 million. It was previously owned by DBSI Inc., an Idaho-based real estate investment company that filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2008.
 
“In today’s marketplace, people are looking for different ways to try to create some activity and find buyers,” said Kurt Mumm, president of Ruhl & Ruhl Commercial Co. in Des Moines, which manages the Partnership Building.
 
Ruhl & Ruhl Regional Vice President Gary Haverkamp had been the appointed receiver for the downtown property before it was sold to its original lender.
 
The 30-year-old building, which is 62 percent occupied, has an assessed value for tax purposes of $2,038,000, according to the Polk County assessor’s website. The land has an assessed value of $2.6 million.    
 
“This auction presents a unique opportunity for an investor,” said Jeffrey Frieden, CEO of Real Estate Disposition LLC and www.Auction.com, in a press release. “The 10-story building has a 750-stall parking ramp with 43,305 net rentable square footage of office and retail space.”
 
The property is being listed for sale by Linda Gibbs and Tim Sharpe, who co-manage CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.’s Private Client Group for the state of Iowa.
 
“Auctions have been very successful on certain types of property,” Mumm said. “Everybody is trying to exhaust every avenue possible to try to move property.”
 
The starting bid has been set at $1.75 million. The bidding ends on Thursday.