Historic St. Augustine property auctioned off for $2.27 million

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — For the first time since 1938, an historic home and restaurant on St. Augustine’s St. George Street were back on the market -- for about five minutes.

The property was auctioned off on Thursday morning for $2.27 million.

Built in the mid-1800s, the property is prime real estate in the heart of the Tourist District, with a view of the Castillo de San Marcos.

Back in 1938, the Parks family bought it for $2,000.

Bill Smith with Greylock Investments was the winning bidder, beating out nine others. The company already owns the Heritage Walk Mall and St. George’s Row Mall on St. George Street.

“We’ve been here about 10 years, our first property. My wife and I have been here much longer than that. We own restaurants on St. George Street,” said Smith.

Smith said it’s unlikely the private home portion of the property will stay that way, but he doesn’t know exactly what the next chapter is yet for this piece of St. Augustine history.

“Obviously the area – the highest use is going to be commercial of some variety. How we go about doing that at this point is still up in the air,” said Smith.

The 10 bidders who participated in Thursday’s auction all had to deposit $100,000 in an escrow account to participate.

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