'Mystery' buyer purchases former McDonald's building
Staff reporter
Nearly 50 people gathered Thursday morning at the former McDonald's Restaurant on East D Street in Hillsboro for a public auction.
The owner, McDonald's Corporation, did not have a minimum or reserve bid.
The bidding started out slowly at $5,000. When the bid reached $57,500, auctioneer Larry Carr of Carr Auction and Real Estate of Larned, gave the bidders a five-minute break.
When the bidding resumed, two bidders played the waiting game until one bidder gave up and the winning bidder bought the building for $69,000.
The building, built in 1999, has a current appraised value of $264,420. When the McDonald's business was operating, the county appraiser had an appraised value of $408,840 for the property.
Thursday's auction included the 2,135-square-foot building, parking lot, and outside storage building on a 48,015-square-foot lot. A few fixtures remained in the building that included exhaust hoods in the kitchen, a counter, and a dozen or so tables.
The auctioneer said the property was zoned limited commercial and would be ideal for a restaurant, offices, retail business, or convenience store.
At press time, the auction company was not willing to divulge the identity of the buyer.
