No competitive bidding at Priest Lake cabin-site auction, but schools earn $15M

Idaho’s public school endowment made $15.65 million last week when the state auctioned off 35 lakefront cabin sites on Priest Lake – even without any competitive bidding. Every one of the lots was purchased at the appraised price by the cabin owners; no one else bid, though between 200 and 250 people attended the Friday auction at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. “From the state’s perspective, I think we were happy and satisfied to get the appraised value,” said state Lands Director Tom Schultz. “As things have played out, I think experience has shown us that there may be competition on a case-by-case basis, but it appears to be pretty limited.” The lots that sold went for an average of just over $447,000. That’s just for the ground, and doesn’t include the structures that lessees have built on the properties during the decades that Idaho has leased them out as cabin sites. If someone other than the cabin owner had been the high bidder, that person would have had to buy the structure from the cabin owner, in addition to buying the lot from the state. The highest-priced parcel in the auction, on South Hunt Creek Road in Coolin, went for $643,000; the lowest-priced, on Upper Bear Creek Bay Road, also in Coolin, went for $341,000. Three more lots that also were up for auction drew no bids. “We did know the day of the auction that the lessees were not going to bid,” said state Lands Department spokeswoman Sharla Arledge. “So they were hoping that someone else would bid, and they would be reimbursed for their personal property.” But no one stepped forward. Idaho has now auctioned off 161 cabin sites, about a third of its inventory, at Priest Lake and Payette Lake; the auctions have generated more than $67 million. The move comes as the state gradually exits the cabin site-renting business, which generated dissent and lawsuits over the years as the state tried to meet its constitutional requirement to get maximum returns from the endowment-owned land, amid fights over what constituted fair rent for the ground and complaints from lessees when rents shot up. The Idaho Department of Lands has another auction set for Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Resort for nine unleased cabin sites at Priest Lake; those are sites where the cabin owners didn’t want to or couldn’t afford to continue their leases, and have found other buyers interested in bidding on both the cabin and the ground, though anyone can bid. “I think people are reluctant to bid against people who have a structure, a home that they have on those lots,” Schultz said. “I do think the next auction, the unleased one, I think we should get more bidding.” The state also has a Nov. 13 auction set in Boise for more than 20 cabin sites at Payette Lake, including both leased and unleased lots. There’s more information at the Idaho Department of Lands website, www.idl.idaho.gov.