CHARLESTON Ƶ Bill Murray would have felt right at home in the lobby of the WoodrumsƵ Building in downtown Charleston Thursday morning.
Instead, it was another Bill, William ƵBillƵ Board, who had seen this movie before.
ƵWeƵre going through this again,Ƶ Board said while he waited for the completion of the second public auction in 10 weeks of the historic downtown building he owned until recently.
ƵItƵs like Groundhog Day,Ƶ Board said, referring to the where the protagonist relives Groundhog Day over and over again.
New auction bid accepted
The historic WoodrumsƵ Building, 600-602 Virginia St. E., after a $2.5 million sale fell through following a Nov. 21 auction of the former furniture store.
An anonymous online donor was the high bidder at $1.37 million Thursday. With fees for auctioneer Joe R. Pyle of Harrison County, the new owner needs to close on the sale by March 3, and pay a total of $1.507 million.
Pyle, who attended the auction, said the winning bidder is a local person with long-standing business ties to the community.
ƵTheyƵre good customers,Ƶ said Pyle, who added that the bidder has worked with his company on auctions for years.
The trustees of the WoodrumsƵ Building Ƶ Eric M. Johnson and L. Elizabeth King of the law firm Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso of Charleston Ƶ attended ThursdayƵs auction, but declined to comment.
About that lawsuit
The property was owned by WoodrumƵs Building Limited Partnership, which is a company owned and operated by William and Debra Board. The deed was transferred in October to King and Johnson after WBLP defaulted on a loan to WesBanco Bank, according to county records.
King, Johnson and WesBanco Ƶ which holds the mortgage on the property Ƶ have sued the high bidder from the Nov. 21 auction, Heather Young of St. Albans.
According to a lawsuit filed Jan. 2 in Kanawha County Circuit Court, ƵYoung has stated that she [was] unable to close [on the original sale] because her ƵinvestorsƵ have backed out.Ƶ
Young is being sued for not paying the $250,000 down payment, the remaining purchase price within 30 days and a buyerƵs premium to auction company Joe R. Pyle Complete Auction & Realty. According to the lawsuit, if the final sale price after the second auction is less than the $2.5 million bid of the first auction, Young is liable for the difference.
That means Young could now be on the hook for at least $1.13 million. Young did not return a request for comment Thursday.
History of the WoodrumsƵ Building
The six-story, 93,000-square foot structure Ƶ built in 1916 on the northeast corner of Virginia Street East and Laidley Street Ƶ was the longtime home of the WoodrumƵs furniture store.
ƵThe WoodrumsƵ Building,Ƶ still on signs and awnings of the structure, once trumpeted the place where high-end furniture was sold to CharlestonƵs elite. With nearly 100,000 square feet of space and a warehouse on the cityƵs West Side, it proclaimed itself ƵThe Largest Furniture Store in the South.Ƶ
William BoardƵs maternal grandfather, Charles Woodrum, and CharlesƵ brother John started a small furniture store in 1906, then built the biggest piece of the current building in 1916.
