Laguna Niguel’s Ziggurat auction soars $100 million past initial asking price

Updated with bids on Tuesday to Friday, Oct. 8-11.

The auction for Laguna Niguel’s iconic Ziggurat is now nine digits above the government’s original ask.

The General Services Administration auction site shows two bids on Friday, Oct. 11, pushed the price to $172.8 million. That’s $102.8 million more than the $70 million that opened bidding on June 5 for the pyramid-shaped Chet Holifield Federal Building and surrounding land that is no longer needed by the federal government.

Yes, the price has soared 147%, after 142 bids on 54 days. The auction has stretched over five months thanks to it’s “soft auction” rules.

You see, if the highest bid is topped in a 24-hour period, the deadline is extended by another 24 hours. So the next deadline is Monday, Oct. 14, at 12:30 p.m.

This curious qualification for extra bidding was first reached on the original auction deadline day of July 31 – and every business day since. The auction’s extension has upped the price by $36 million – a 26% increase – due to this “soft close” arrangement.

Both of the latest bids were $300,000 increases in price, the minimum increment allowed. It’s been a common move by the auction’s three bidders, accounting for 132 of the bids.

It was also the 40th day the auction was kept alive by a bid one hour or less from deadline. This last-moment action came 15 minutes before a potential end.

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