It was high-price ping-pong.
Steve Schwada, member of a longtime Lawrence development family, sat on the back row of the jury assembly room. Penny Tuckel, member of a longtime Lawrence agriculture family, sat on the front row.
A crowded room watched as multimillion-dollar bids bounced from one side of the room and then the other. At stake in this closely watched Douglas County Sheriff’s auction was the future of one of Lawrence’s prime pieces of industrial property: 155 acres just north of the Lecompton interchange on the Kansas Turnpike.
Tuckel and her husband, Russell, won ownership of the property with a $2.95 million bid. But now questions are emerging about what the future holds for the site, which economic development leaders have touted because of its proximity to Interstate 70.
After the auction, Tuckel declined to say whether her group would seek immediate development of the property, which has become a leading site for a new warehouse for Berry Plastics.
“The city/county government, and many others, have taken an intense interest in the proposed use of the parcel, and I feel sure all involved will keep the best interests of the city of Lawrence and Douglas County residents at heart,” Tuckel said in a written statement.
Court-ordered sale
The property had been jointly owned by the Tuckels and a development group led by Schwada. A Douglas County District Court judge ordered the sale after a lawsuit was filed by Schwada’s group saying the two sides no longer could agree about the property’s future. Schwada had asked for the property to be split in half, but the judge ruled the equitable manner to dissolve the joint ownership was through a sale.
Bidding started at $1.3 million, and 29 bids later the auction was over when Schwada declined to go any further. The auction was open to all bidders, but only Tuckel and Schwada bid. The winner was required to present a cashier’s check for the full $2.95 million within two hours.
In the lawsuit leading up to the sale, allegations were made that the Tuckels were not interested in immediately developing the property, although the Tuckels have said the Berry Plastics project does interest them.
Berry has been seeking a site for a 600,000-square-foot warehouse to support its plastic drink cup manufacturing facility in Lawrence. Berry had been doing its negotiating with Schwada.
Lawrence Mayor Mike Amyx said he’s planning to meet with all parties involved to see whether the project can remain on track.
“This piece of property is important for the city’s future tax base,” Amyx said. “As we look to bring job growth to Lawrence, we need to have property that is suited for all types of jobs. This property does that.”
Neighbors watching
Neighbors near the site have filed two lawsuits related to the zoning and annexation of the property. A spokesman for the neighborhood group said the new ownership could ease some of their concerns.
“I think the neighbors will welcome this as a positive development,” Dave Ross said. “We hope the new owners will be willing to work with the neighborhood so we can all have something that would be good for the community and positive for the neighbors.”
Ross said neighbors have seen plans for the Berry warehouse and believe it can work on the site with proper screening. But neighbors want all the property zoned to a lesser industrial zoning category to remove the possibility that the site could be developed with a truck stop or other more intensive uses.
Comments
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BrianR (anonymous) says…
"The land was sold at a sheriff’s auction at the order of a Douglas County District Court judge when the Schwadas and Tuckels — who jointly owned the property — no longer could agree on its future. "
Why does the District Court care whether two property owners can't agree on how to use the property they own? I'm sure there is more to this story, it's just absent from the article.
OonlyBonly (anonymous) replies…
You should read the previous article(s) wherin all is explained. They couldn't come to an agreement as to which of them owned the more desirable piece of the property so now they both lose..
mdfraz (anonymous) replies…
Because.........that's what happens when a lawsuit is filed? When two parties have a dispute they go to court. Like here.
Hoots (anonymous) replies…
It was also stated in earlier articles that the Tuckels may not have been paid money owed to them by Schwada from a business dealing they were both involved in. The bad blood goes deeper than the property.
KU_cynic (anonymous) says…
I would infer that the parties agreed to a sale as directed by the judge, with whoever wanted pay the most for the property in effect buying out the other side. It's the kind of outcome that could have been avoided -- at even the 11th hour I imagine -- if they could have come to a private resolution of their differences. A textbook case of what to do when property is owned jointly and the owners can't agree what to do with it.
Sita (anonymous) replies…
Who gets the money?
somedude20 (anonymous) replies…
my guess would be the American Indians as this land was their land or God since people believe me made this mudball I guess he trumps that Indians
BrianR (anonymous) says…
Thanks.
outbiddersRwinners (anonymous) says…
"But Penny Tuckel after the auction stopped short of saying her group would seek immediate development of the property."
Sounds like Tuckels going to hold the ground hostage until the city makes the taxpayers cough up the cash to develop the site for her? She can’t do it without them. Tuckels took it to the taxpayers before when they robbed the city over some ground for rights of way and a park site.
The headline reads “couple outbid development group”. She’s quoted saying her group, is it a couple or group? If it’s a group who’s in the group, maybe their old partners that she supposedly outbid are just hiding in the background till the dust settles. The neighbors acted like they had it rough before, now the real fun begins.
I agree with BrianR, thanks
Check back later for more details.
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
casul458, when you ready to start moving dirt. let me know, as marty K.said "you want the bulldozer?" sure, after we soak it to the city and the county, and gee, maybe even get the school board to buy up some land. Then the utilities come to the landowners for free..pretty smart, I would say.
Anyone know if any money was owed on the parcel :)
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
gosh, almost $20,000 an acre. So EAst Hills was bought for around $2,500 an acre and the Development Group can't even pay that back to the county cofffers.
Weinaug needs a million dollars for some kind of development purse. Someone should ask Weinaug if the county plans to buy some of the 155 acres for only $40,000 an acre.
Guess the county taxpayers will get soaked good on this deal. Better move that dirt fast and hid the money in some bank in Florida.
tcs (anonymous) replies…
Technically they only paid $1.475M plus their original investment in the property. If Berry builds the building and it is a triple net lease they'd only need collect about $15K a month and would still have half the property to develop.
Hoots (anonymous) replies…
Actually, much of the last ground developed on the west edge of town went for around $60,000+ per acre so this is cheap if you want to call it that.
cheeseburger (anonymous) says…
"But Penny Tuckel after the auction stopped short of saying her group would seek immediate development of the property."
Uh, Chad, would you like to try again with the paragraph above? Your J-school professor would be appalled!
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
What about Dolph's J-School professor? Wonder how those classes turned out?
Penny Tuckel meant to say "her group would seek immediate return on the investment as soon as the plans are laid take the sewers and water to the area" ,in my opinion.
not_holroyd (anonymous) says…
I heard a rumor the local obit price could be increasing. Maybe you ought to get a cheap one, Wilbur.
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) replies…
wouldnt waste the money for the Lawrence newspaper, sorry, you'll have to read about it in Sun City news, wait a minute, it will be announced on the Cruise to 15 cities in Europe. When one has over a 1.000 rentals and is bringing in over 600,000 a month, who would waste their money on the Journal World obits. Go big time for the New York times.
hey, where you been all day anyway, slow day at the office?
thuja (anonymous) replies…
That's some high rent, G.
$600K for 1 rental, accurate to the thousandth of a rental.
nekansan (anonymous) says…
The county is likely just happy to have a nice new property valuation which they can base taxes on.....
outbiddersRwinners (anonymous) says…
? Anyone else tired of reading what Dave Ross wants to happen on property he doesn't own
merrill (anonymous) says…
Taxpayers cannot afford to ADD new infrastructure anywhere.
Development should wait until taxpayers say OKAY!
Hoots (anonymous) replies…
If you have been paying attention for the past say 30 years. Most development has to pay for ALL of its own infrastructure. Any new housing development carries specials with it to the tune of about $12,000-$15.000 per lot. These are paid to the city over 10 years with interest or they are paid up front and the price of the lot is increased to pay them off without interest. Those days of the city paying for everything are very long gone. I get sick of people who still live in the 1970's. Your info is not anywhere up-to-date. Sometimes the city will do something small to get the tax dollars on commercial property but usually it's the business or neighborhood that pays the cost of infrastructure. Now get in your hot-tub time machine and jump forward to 2010.
Hoots (anonymous) replies…
Oh yeah, we don't need new jobs either...do we? This is exactly the kind of thing we need to foster. Please complain a little more about something that could make our local economic picture better. I just hate it when someone wants to give us a few new jobs or invest in our future. No jobs=no Lawrence or insane property taxes. Properties like this lower the tax burden on your home.
hipper_than_hip (anonymous) says…
It's 11 permanent jobs, and Berry has got $11M in stimulus to build this warehouse.
Keep in mind that this is a warehouse, not a factory or an design firm or even a doctors office. Does our city and county leadership think that the best road forward is lined with warehouses?
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) replies…
Hey those warehouses and factories are going to go northeast toward Tonganoxe, Another big parcel of farm ground sold just outside Tongie. Getting ready over there for more new homes. And who wouldn't want to live about 15 minutes from the new Casino at the NASCAR track .
Hoots (anonymous) says…
You must have a place to store the product you make and store the material to make product. This could be part of a larger picture you are missing. If they need and have the space it could lead to future expansion.
458casul (anonymous) says…
well well well no russ at the party u sent penny the boss sarduchi and she told u russ. u bought a peice of ground and showed them. u made them cry all the way to the bank .penny showed u russ how to lose money ur the best penny we love u
458casul (anonymous) says…
berry plastics wont meet with penny she allready pissed them off
458casul (anonymous) says…
my bet is ross and penny are doing the secret hand shake
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) replies…
And someone is putting some money in a Florida bank or maybe even Key West. After all, why invest in Lawrence when the amenities are better elsewhere. The smart folks make their money and take it out of town, because the locals don't appreciate something nice. And as a result the out of town investors have gotten smart and aren't making any handshakes anymore unless they are the Mustard Heir, or some scam like Culture Farms, or even the dude who set up an offfice downtown to give away free money. Oh, no one remembers the house the Mustard Heir got south of town and the horses. Yes, there really were horsefthieves, right here in River City.
I can't wait for the final chapter to be written on the book about Lawrence.
The Fleecing of Lawrence from the early "70s to 2010. Of course now wth the tuckels and shwada escapade, the book may yet have to have another chapter.
outbiddersRwinners (anonymous) says…
With the ground cost at 20k acre before improvements, no utilities, one shot wonders for owners, how can this site economically compete with nearby communities that currently offer publicly owned, shovel ready sites, sky’s the limit incentives, tax abatements, in some cases free ground, a community full of ready to work potential employees and no law suits by surrounding property owners bogging down the sites development.
Hoots (anonymous) says…
The whole thing sounded like an old fashioned wizzing contest. Mine's bigger. I do wonder if they won the battle. Time will tell I guess.
Napoleon_Dynomite (anonymous) says…
If this property was in Missouri, it would be ripe for a combo "Adult" truck stop/ fireworks store.
mr_right_wing (anonymous) says…
How dare someone have that kind of money!!
This is a 'share the wealth' nation now!!
Mr. Obama, give us some of that money!!
Or at lest nationalize this woman and her family.
JSDAD (anonymous) says…
wonder what roa was on the sale since i guess she will get half the money back since she owned half of the land to begin with?
youngjayhawk (anonymous) says…
All I can say is ... it must be nice to have that kind of money!
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) replies…
You could have if you didn't vote for every project that comes along in Lawrence to be funded by the public.
youngjayhawk (anonymous) replies…
Haha ... NOT!