Golf and Gardens sale could take a long time

A new wire fence gives an indication how close the state of Georgia is to auctioning its 16 acres at 13th and Reynolds streets.

"We would not have gone through the expense of putting the fence up if we thought it was going to go through anytime soon," said Bert Brantley, the spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The state recently erected the fence between the overgrown Georgia Golf and Gardens flora and the property's parking lot.

Now, the Golf Hall parking lot is available for overflow Marriott parking, lost at the onset of construction of a new downtown parking deck, Augusta City Manager Fred Russell has said.

In July, an official with the Georgia Properties Commission, which manages the state's land and other holdings, estimated that putting the property out for bid would take up to three months.

"I wish it was moving faster than it was, but it is not," Brantley said. "It takes a lot to sell a piece of property that the state owns."

Brantley acknowledged no particular difficulties the state was having in completing its due diligence prior to the sale -- clearing titles to the land, reappraising values and completing an environmental assessment.

The state has no plans to improve or subdivide the property before the sale. The minimum price has been set at about $2.8 million to cover Georgia's remaining bond debt, he said.

While the state hasn't examined whether the market even exists to make the minimum bid, Brantley said the slowness might help the state in that regard.

"Hopefully the economy's starting to turn back around and maybe there's a market for something like this, a little bit of a silver lining," he said.