Upcoming R.E. Auction “Reminiscent of the Late ’80s”

Anybody in the market for an Arlington hotel? Some raw land in McKinney? You might get ’em cheap. After hearing for awhile that commercial real estate will be the “next shoe to drop” in the fledgling recovery, we could see a bunch of shoes dropping when CRE Auction Group puts 28 commercial real estate properties up for auction at Prestonwood Country Club next week. Southlake-based CRE , which is teaming with Henry S. Miller Brokerage on the Dec. 15 event, hopes it’s the first of many similar auctions to come. Minimum bids will be placed on each of the offerings–total full-market value: around $100 million–and the bulk sale will be webcast as well. “This is reminiscent of the late ’80s and early ’90s, when the [Resolution Trust Corp.] held auctions in hotel ballrooms,” says Bill Vaughan, CRE’s president and CEO. “It’s definitely the biggest here in a decade–and maybe close to two decades.”