The Outcome of the Auction

The City of Hudson held an auction of foreclosed properties today at noon. The goal was to recoup $302,106.82 in unpaid taxes and fees, and despite the fact that three properties--255-257 Columbia, 67 Fairview Avenue, and 6 Lucille Drive--were withdrawn for lack of bidders, there was brisk bidding on a few of the properties, which resulted in the winning bids totaling $375,336.43 and exceeding expectation. Here with the results for the properties that sold.

35 Columbia Street   
Minimum bid: $24,211.97  
Winning bid: $51,000

241 Columbia Street
Minimum bid: $35,907.09
Winning bid: $35,907.09

One person at the auction told Gossips he had not bid on the church because he thought the person who bid the minimum was doing so on behalf of Rev. Ed Cross and the Endless Love Temple. It turns out that was not the case. The winning bidder was Glenn Rice, who has no affiliation with Cross or his church. Rice was also the winning bidder on the vacant lot next door to the church.

243 Columbia Street
Minimum bid: $2,770.21
Winning bid: $6,000

202 Mill Street
Minimum bid: $25,045.19
Winning bid: $25,045.19

When it was first offered, there were no bidders for this house, so it was withdrawn. At the end of the auction, someone indicated that he wanted to bid on the house, so it was re-offered and sold for the minimum bid. 

505 Clinton Street
Minimum bid: $16,929.39
Winning bid: $110,000

The winning bidder for this house was Kamal Elmasri, who has done an excellent job of restoring the house that was the original Hudson Hospital, just around the corner from this house at 102-104 Washington Street.

15 Spring Street
Minimum bid: $7,384.15
Winning bid: $7,384.15

At the auction this morning, this property, identified on the original list only as "Spring Street," turned out to be not vacant property, as Gossips previously indicated, but this little house, located not far from the spring that feeds Oakdale Lake and from which Spring Street takes its name.
Correction: Although this house bears the number "15," it turns out not to be the 15 Spring Street that was sold at auction. It has been confirmed that 15 Spring Street is a vacant lot adjacent to this house.

618 State Street
Minimum bid: $30,380.80
Winning bid: $140,000

The winning bidder for 618 State Street was Jack Connor. After the auction, Colin Stair, who had also bid on the house, challenged the legitimacy of Connor bidding in the auction because employees of the City of Hudson were prohibited from bidding, and Connor is the city judge. Connor maintained that, as a judge, he is not paid by the City of Hudson, and that he was bidding on behalf of Hudson Collective Realty LLC. Carl Whitbeck, who was conducting the auction for the City, told Stair that the Common Council would have to decide whether or not the bid conformed to the rules governing the auction. 

According to the tax rolls, Hudson Collective Realty LLC shares the same New York City address as Galvan Initiatives Foundation--42 West 39th Street, 14th floor. The entity already owns nine properties in Hudson: 229 Union Street, 233-235 Allen Street, 229 Allen Street, 26, 28, and 30 Allen Street (the late Ruth Moser's house), 55-61 Allen Street (the yellow brick Gothic Revival), 340 State Street, 336 State Street. Several of these properties are known to have been acquired by Eric Galloway. Hudson Collective Realty is yet another of Galloway's LLCs.
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