By Felicia A. Petro
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP — From sports complex to warehouse – Born2Run took a quick turn after being sold on the auction block Wednesday afternoon.
After sitting idle for four years, the Springfield Township site was bought for $1.65 million in about 10 minutes by Curt Hovis on behalf of him and his brother, Cliff Hovis Jr.
The brothers co-own Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, which has 12 locations from Erie to Pittsburgh and Hermitage to DuBois, including Grove City.
“We felt it was a good value for our business,” said Curt, a Clintonville resident.
“We’ve been looking at it for some time, but eyeing it for at least six months,” added Cliff Jr., a Grove City man.
His brother only bid as high as the complex’s market value for purchase.
“A live auction is the best opportunity for that,” Curt added, especially since the unique building – which was in a niche market – gave it some limitations.
The building won’t be limited for Hovis Auto, however.
“We outgrew our warehouses in Erie and New Castle. We’re looking to expand into Pittsburgh,” Cliff Jr. said. “This is a very central location. Our stores follow the [Interstate] 80 and 79 corridors.”
The Springfield warehouse will house auto and heavy truck parts. The company also sells paint and autobody supplies.
“We’re running about 170 vehicles every day delivering auto parts and truck parts,” Cliff Jr. said. The Springfield site will also include a shop to sell parts.
A crowd of 60-plus spectators and interested parties attended the auction.
Besides Curt Hovis, an unknown bidder pitched the low bid of $1.5 million on the complex.
“I would have liked for it to sell for more, but when you get into this caliber of buyers, the market is narrow (for sports complexes),” said the auctioneer, Kevin Teets, general manager with Joe R. Pyle auctioneers, Mount Morris, Pa.
“There’s some here who felt they could get this for $500,000 or $1 million tops,” he added.
Teets prodded the crowd to go higher during the auction.
“This is worth 3 to 4 million,” he reminded them.
As a sports complex, the controversial facility opened in 2004. Although successful at booking sports camps, Born2Run’s developer ran out of money before the complex was completed. It was abruptly closed in the fall of that year.
A court battle ensued with contractors claiming non-payment. The complex was sold for $3.5 million to Sky Bank – now Huntington Bank – at sheriff’s sale in late 2005. A deal was finally reached with unpaid contractors in 2007.
Born2Run had since been for sale. It was unsuccessfully listed for some time at the online auction site eBay. However, it had sat all but abandoned along Route 208 since late 2004.
Huntington paid thousands of dollars to market Born2Run, Teets said. He hosted an open house June 11, with fewer showing interest than those who had called by phone. Teets had many phone inquiries, and a dozen that scoped out the complex before the auction day.
Some investors flew in with their own inspectors, contractors and appraisers to look at Born2Run, Teets added.
However, many investors felt the facility was overbuilt and too large to operate, a former manager has said.
The building was sold “as is,” Teets said – without contingencies, like financing or satisfactory inspection. Financing was required the day of the sale.
“There were 15 registered bidders with pre-qualification,” he added in a separate interview. The Hovis brothers “had all their ducks in order.”
Also required was a 10 percent, non-refundable deposit on Born2Run to the highest bidder – which would have cost Hovis Auto $165,000 on Wednesday. The balance of the amount will be due at closing in about 45 days, Teets said.
The complex sits on more than 29 acres, including a 78,000-square-foot field house with soccer field, four basketball courts, a volleyball court, observation deck, child care center, physical therapy offices, concession area, gift shop, administrative offices, meeting rooms and weight rooms.
Also, it has a 21,000-square-foot in-line hockey rink with concession area, locker and meeting rooms and bleachers; and a 33,000-square-foot dormitory and dining hall, not yet completed, with beds for 372, shower areas, and planned areas for concession and dining.
The location is just a couple miles west of the Prime Outlets of Grove City.
Cliff Jr. said his business will “probably sell a lot of the sports contents.” Not included in the auction sale was the kitchen equipment on site, Teets added. However, Hovis has an option to buy it.
The space alone will double the amount of warehouse space that Hovis Auto already owns. Its warehouses in Erie and New Castle have about 70,000 square feet combined, Curt said.
Attending the auction with the Hovis brothers were Cliff Jr.’s children Clifford, 14, and Grace, 12, as well as the brothers’ father, Cliff Hovis Sr., who began the family business in 1952 in Clintonville, where the family homestead is located.
The senior Hovis still manages the towing and wrecking portion of the company; however, his sons took over the business in 1987.
“I hate to see them working so hard, but they’ve done well,” Mr. Hovis said of the boys. “Everything’s so perfect. I just go with whatever they want.”
Cliff Jr. expected the warehouse to be “realistically” up and running in 120 days, he added.
Information from a prior story by Allied News staff writer Stephanie Hartle was used in this piece.
