With back-to-back bids, three bidders had sent the auction price for a former World War II bomber plant in Middle River to $18.4 million by Friday afternoon, according to the Web site conducting the auction.
If no bids are made over the weekend, the highest bid at midnight Friday will win, according to MaryAnne Beatty, a spokeswoman for the U.S. General Services Administration, which is conducting the sale.
The bidders ? using screen names marauder, 26, and believe1 ? have engaged in competitive bidding since Tuesday, according to the Web site www.auctionrp.com, which details the bidding. The screen names appear connected to the site or community. Marauder and B-26 were the name of planes built at the plant and Believe was a Baltimore City slogan.
The GSA is selling the site, which was once home to Martin aircraft manufacturing. Called the Middle River Station, the historic property was the birthplace of Martin?s B-26 Marauder bomber planes used in World War II.
It contains 1.9 million square feet and includes 120,000 square feet of unobstructed space.
The site is 13 miles northeast of downtown Baltimore at the intersection of Maryland Route 43 (White Marsh Boulevard) and Eastern Boulevard.
Government officials want the property to be developed into a mixture of commercial, residential and retail uses.
Since Tuesday, marauder, 26 and believe1 have been in tit-for-tat bidding, with one of them making a bid, another upping the bid by the $100,000 minimum shortly thereafter and the third bidder upping the price again.
The bids typically come bunched together just before midnight so the bidder can be the high bid of the day.
If no one ups the before-midnight bid by 2 p.m. the next day, the before-midnight bid is the winner.
“We?re happy to see our bidders growing comfortable with the electronic bidding process,” Beatty said.
“The bidders are embracing the method and are finding that placing a bid is simply a click away,” she said.
Bill Jones, redevelopment specialist with the Baltimore County Economic Development Department, said more than 250 people have toured the site, including developers from California, New York and Mexico City.
“It?s fun to watch,” Jones said. “Each bidder has their own strategy.”
