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A former manufacturing building on Oregon Street in Wilkes-Barre is headed for Luzerne County’s primary free-and-clear auction in August after more than a decade of tax delinquency, county records show.
Owned by Bernard Rockman, the 56,600-square-foot building has racked up $271,428 in unpaid real estate taxes dating to 2005.
The county can list properties for auction if taxes are two years past due unless the owners are complying with repayment plans, a judge grants more time or the property is involved in an active bankruptcy case.
The Rockman property was kept out of sales over the years due to two bankruptcies, a court action attempting to block a sale and two repayment plans that were not honored, according to county officials.
Bidding for the Oregon Street property starts at $6,206 in the Aug. 10 sale.
Free-and-clear auctions, also known as judicial sales, are popular because all back taxes and liens are forgiven. Proceeds are split among taxing bodies if purchases exceed the minimum bid that is required to recoup sale processing costs.
Properties advance to free-and-clear auctions if they are not sold at a first-stage upset sale, when bidders must pay all back taxes and accept responsibility for liens.
The Oregon Street property previously housed Nicholson Steam Trap Inc., a manufacturing firm that moved operations to another state in 1994. Nicholson Steam was founded here in 1883, producing devices that held back steam and discharged condensed water.
Rockman purchased the 2.4-acre property for $300,000 in 1995 to house Beroc Inc., a family bakery equipment supply business.
Family member Jeffrey Rockman, who is involved in the business, had blamed the debt on high taxes in 2014 and said maintaining the cavernous, brick industrial structure built in 1890 was challenging, particularly amid several break-ins. He also predicted the property would become a vacant nuisance if someone without financial means bought the structure cheap at a tax auction.
The property’s county assessment is $507,900.
More up for grabs
A total of 315 properties are listed in the sale, according to a review of the preliminary report prepared by tax-claim operator Northeast Revenue Service LLC. Owners have until the morning of the sale to pay their back taxes to prevent their properties from being auctioned.
Here are some of the other commercial and industrial properties slated for the sale, along with the minimum bids:
• The 14.5-acre site of the former Huber Breaker on Main Street in Ashley, owned by Paselo Logistics LLC, $2,147.
• Eight properties in Duryea owned by Balchune & Balchune Partners, William Balchune and others. The properties include a stretch of retail storefront buildings with apartments above in the 400 block of Main Street that the owner has been trying to sell as a complete block of buildings. The other residential structures are in the 200 block of Main Street and on Watt, Pettebone and Stephenson streets. Starting bids range from $489 to $2,514.
• A vacant 6.25-acre commercial tract on Spring Street in Hanover Township owned by South Carolina-based Business Loan Center, $1,707.
• The Vaughn St. Bar and Grill property, 347 Vaughn St., Luzerne, which is owned by the Albina Pope Irrevocable Trust, $1,488.
• The former Garrison Memorial Elementary School at 43 W. Vine St., Shickshinny, which is owned by Helena Shultz, of Berwick, $2,470. Bidding for a separate parking lot parcel starts at $941.
• The former Center Street Cafe property at 85 Center St., Pittston, owned by Michael and Virginia Struzzeri, $3,555.
• A graffiti-covered former taxi garage and office at the corner of South Franklin and Horton streets in Wilkes-Barre owned by 777 LLP, $4,024.
• A brick retail structure at 113 E. Broad St. in Hazleton owned by Lawrence Norman, $2,055.
• A 5.05-acre tract on Sugarloaf Heights Road in Sugarloaf Township owned by Liberty Home Development Corp., $1,231.
Also listed is an apartment building housed in the former Dana Street School, but that property is expected to be removed due to a recent sale, according to Northeast Revenue.
The property, which is assessed at $622,400, carries $105,334 in delinquent taxes from 2012 through 2016. Patricia Kolesar sold the property to Jasdeep Singh and Prabhjot and Harbhajan Kaur for $450,000 on May 30. Northeast Revenue said the back taxes were placed in escrow and are set to be paid.
