Freedom Credit Union has listed for sale the three downtown Springfield, Mass., office buildings it took back in November in a mortgage foreclosure.
The combined asking price for the properties is $5 million.
Included is the landmark 46,480-square-foot former Masonic building at the corner of State and Main streets. With its distinctive copper-clad tower, the building, at 115-117 State St., is listed for $1.8 million, according to a Colebrook Realty Services listing that went up in December.
A block south on Main Street is an 81,879-square-foot building at 1139-1155 Main St. on sale for $2.9 million, also according to Colebrook. The third building is a 5,628-square-foot office building at 11-21 Stockbridge St. priced at $300,000.
None of the three buildings attracted the minimum bids at three auctions held in November. Freedom Credit Union ended up buying them with the stated plan of listing and selling them on the commercial real estate market.
Sometimes buyers are reluctant to bid at foreclosure auctions when their time is limited and their ability to inspect the property and do research is constrained.
Colebrook touts the proximity of all three buildings to the MGM Springfield Casino.
Officials at Colebrook and at Springfield-based Freedom couldn't be reached on Dec. 30.
But at the time of the auction, Jeffrey M. Smith, vice president and chief lending officer for Freedom, said there had already been interest from potential buyers.
"Our hope is to get someone who is going to own the property so it will be good for the city of Springfield," he said, adding that the buildings are "a big focal point for the city being as they are right downtown and right across from MGM."
Today, only 11-21 Stockbridge St. appears to be well occupied, with legal offices as tenants.
The tenant at 1139-1155 Main St., the law firm Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, moved out in October to new offices at 1150 Hall of Fame Ave.
All three buildings were owned by Louis Masaschi and Jeanette Norman Masaschi of JLL Realty. The Masaschis are also behind a stalled hotel project at 24 Park St. The city intervened in October after bricks fell from the gutted hulk of a former warehouse and onto the street.
