I’ve been part of a lot of auctions in my career – many of them very big ones. Thousands of acres of land, offered in dozens of tracts. It’s exhilarating.
Right now, we at Murray Wise are awash in exhilaration – preparing for an incredibly complex set of auctions to sell a wide range of assets – not only more than 10,000 acres of farmland, but processing facilities, labor camps, several luxury homes, a hotel, and equipment.
Lots of equipment. Tractors, disks, trucks, forklifts, sprayers and specialized equipment that was used in the operations of East Coast Brokers and Packers, one of the nation’s biggest tomato growers and packers, which is now in bankruptcy.
We’ve had a long history of partnering with other companies, and in this case, we’re actually working with three other auction companies, which I think is a record for us. From the outset on this project, we’ve been working with my friends at Crosby & Associates, based in Winter Haven. And because the land and labor camps are split between Florida and Virginia, we brought in Woltz & Associates, which is based in Roanoke and specializes in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Finally, we needed some help with the equipment, which was scattered at different farms and work sites and needed to be brought together in two locations where bidders could inspect it and bid on it. Tim Weeks, Bill Catsulis and the other folks at Weeks Auction stepped forward and have been working long days get all of the equipment inspected, catalogued, photographed and moved to the two sites in Mulberry, Fla., and Greenbush, Va.
This is a really exciting challenge, giving our staff at Murray Wise Associates a chance to form relationships with colleagues they’ve known only casually or by reputation, and to learn a few things along the way.
Just organizing the assets and producing the brochures has been a herculean task, but we’re on top of it, and you can find all the details here.