After close to three months of daily bidding, the massive Middle River Station site was sold for $37.5 million.
The winning bidder won?t be announced until after the seven to 10 days necessary to close the deal, according the federal General Services Administration, which handled the auction.
The historic Middle River Station was the former World War II Glenn Martin airplane manufacturing plant, which built bombers used in the war.
The final bid came in on Friday and was made by a bidder using the name “believe1.” The online auction started on June 28 and was conducted at the Web site www.auctionrp.com, where the GSA disposes property.
The Middle River site sits on 50 acres and is 13 miles northeast of Baltimore City, located near several main transportation arteries including Route 43, a connector to Interstate 95 and the MARC rail as well as nearby Amtrak and Penn Central Railroad lines.
It is also across from Martin State Airport.
“GSA views the Middle River Station as a valuable asset and is pleased the bidders have confirmed that vision,” said David Winstead, GSA?s commissioner for public buildings.
“A refurbished Middle River Station can be truly catalytic to local and regional development, which, in turn, will bring significant economic benefits for the area?s inhabitants.”
Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith said the site could prove a cornerstone for major development in the area.
“Middle River Station and Baltimore County are ready for a development team that shares the county?s and community?s vision for a lively mix of business, residential and commercial uses in this historic building,” Smith stated in a release.
“We look forward to working with the winning bidder to make this vision reality,” Smith added.
Middle River has 1.9 million square feet including a two-story warehouse that offers 120,000 square feet of unobstructed space.
The auction concluded after several weeks of back-and-forth bidding between bidders using the names “believe1” and “26.”
Each would bid sometimes in the minimum increment of $100,000, followed by a counter-bid which typically came close to the deadline for bidding.
