Two properties owned by Plourde Sand & Gravel were auctioned on Jan. 16, with an Allenstown property going for $2.4 million and a Hooksett property going for $3.2 million.
McInnis Auctions oversaw the bidding on the two Plourde properties in a chilly equipment garage at the Route 3A Hooksett property across from the state rest stop.
About 20 people attended but only two actually offered bids. Ernest Thibeault of Allenstown Aggregate and a lawyer, Marc van Zanten, did most of the bidding. Van Zanten represented Greenlake Asset Management, a national company specializing in commercial real estate loans.
It went through three rounds of finger-numbing bidding before the final bids were accepted. At the last minute of bidding on the Allenstown property, Thibeault kept looking back at his associate who was on the phone with someone, and suddenly decided not to outbid van Zanten, who offered the final bids on both properties.
At the end of the auction, van Zanten did not know what the buyer planned to do next. As recently as Feb. 10, van Zanten said “nothing has been finalized yet.”
