CENTRAL HARDWARE BUILDING TO BE SOLD

The building which formerly housed Central Hardware in Cape Girardeau has been put on the auction block.

The Cape Girardeau building is the largest of six former Central Hardware Co. buildings being put up for auction in the Midwest. The 85,320-square-foot building located on a 7.14-acre site at 371 S. Broadview St. is the only one of the stores to be offered by a sealed bid auction.

The remaining five buildings are in Ohio -- three in Cincinnati and two in Columbus -- and will be sold during verbal auctions to be held at the sites.

All the buildings, ranging in size from 53,760 to 85,320 square feet, are available for immediate occupancy. They are owned by Spirit Holding Co., which is offering them for auction with the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Spirit Holding has retained Benj E. Sherman & Sons' Auction Services Group, a Chicago-based national real estate services company, to conduct two auctions. The Cape Girardeau property will be auctioned off Dec. 14, and the five Ohio properties will go up for bid Dec. 19 in Cincinnati.

"The Cape Girardeau property is the largest and nicest of the group," said David J. Hyman, managing broker and senior vice president of Benj E. Sherman & Sons. "That is the reason that we are taking sealed bids on it."

Hyman is sure the property will sell. "We hope to receive a good price for it," he said.

Hyman will be in Cape Girardeau to provide inspections of the property from 1 to 3 p.m. on Nov. 28 and Dec. 5.

Robert Roggeveen, president of the auction company, said the seller has elected to auction these properties in order to expedite the sale and to eliminate the carrying costs associated with an extended conventional marketing campaign.

The five Ohio properties are being offered without reserve in the court-approved action, subject to bids of $7 to $12 per square foot.

"The low minimum bid auction format plus the ready availability of seller financing will be attractive to both users and investors," added Roggeveen.

He also noted that the portfolio of prime retail locations should be of great interest to retailers expanding into these markets. "It's a great opportunity for retail chains looking to establish a strong presence in these markets quickly," he said.

An extensive "Bidder Package" is available for each property. Additional information for the Cape Girardeau property is available by calling (314) 334-4424.

The seven-year-old property here has been used only a couple of times since it became vacant in the fall of 1993.during the past two years. The store building was used by Franzen Brothers Circus in October 994, and the circus utilized the parking lot when it returned to Cape Girardeau last August.

One Cape Girardeau physician has suggested that the hardware building could be made into a medical office building.

The building has also been suggested as an option to relieve crowded conditions in the Cape Girardeau schools.

Central Hardware, based at Bridgeton, Mo., announced in May 1993 that it was closing a dozen of its 39 stores. One of the closures was at Cape Girardeau.

Along with its parent company, Spirit Holding Co., and sister company, Witte Hardware Co., Central Hardware filed for bankruptcy protection in March 1993. The companies at that time employed 3,800 people, with about 1,400 of those in the St. Louis area and 100 in Cape Girardeau.

Central Hardware operated home-improvement stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee.