Laguna Niguel’s Ziggurat auction hits $169.2 million – Daily News

Updated with bidding of Tuesday-Thursday, Oct. 1-3.

For the 34th time, the auction for Laguna Niguel’s iconic Ziggurat goes on thanks to another last-moment bid.

With 13 minutes left in the auction on Thursday, Oct. 3, the General Services Administration auction site shows “Bidder #02” increased the price by the minimum $300,000 increment for the pyramid-shaped Chet Holifield Federal Building and surrounding land that’s no longer needed by the federal government. “Bidder #01” quickly countered with a similar price hike.

Here’s what you need to know about the online auction that began June 5 for a prime south Orange County real estate opportunity …

Latest price: $169.2 million or 142% above the $70 million initial asking price.

Next deadline: 2:01 p.m. on October 4. If the highest bid is topped in a 24-hour period, the deadline is extended by another 24 hours.

Activity: 130 bids on 48 days – 38 days with just 2 bids.

Size: 120 bids at the $300,000 minimum increment with the largest move a $24.7 million increase on June 5.

Bidders: Three unidentified participants, dubbed “#01” with 66 bids, “#02” with 50 bids, and “#03” with 14.

Drama: Of the 34 days the auction was extended with a bid an hour or less before the deadline, the closest call was 5 minutes on September 30 and October 1.

Extra time: The $32.4 million price bump since the original July 31 deadline equals a 24% increase thanks to this “soft close” auction’s arrangement.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com