Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Bishop McDevitt building gets several “offers in writing,” despite auction bust

The old Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg

There are numerous “prospective offers” to purchase the building that long housed Bishop McDevitt High School, according to an official of the company trying to sell the property.

Robert Dann, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., declined to disclose the potential buyers or the offer prices. However, he said that he felt optimistic that the building would sell in the near future.

“We do have offers in writing that were made before the auction,” he said. “We’re going to negotiate with them and get the deal done.”

Dann said he expected a final sales agreement in “the next week or two.”

Meanwhile, today’s live auction for the property at the Hilton Harrisburg was sparsely attended and did not yield any in-person bids. The reserve, or minimum, acceptable price was set at $400,000.

The Diocese of Harrisburg is selling the sprawling property at 2200 Market St. after moving the school to a new building in Lower Paxton Township in 2012.

The building has been on the market for years, but, despite several potential offers, has never sold. The property comes complete with the 115,000-square-foot, 1930s-era building and the surrounding grounds, including the former football field and a large parking lot, sited on just over eight acres.

Dann said that most of the offers do not propose an educational use for the building, but a conversion to some type of residential housing, either apartments or senior living.

“Some of the proposals are local, and some are from the Philadelphia area,” he said.

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