Until he was brought in to help sell it, John Harris had never seen the Trinity Town Center before.
“My jaw just dropped. The size of it. The architecture it’s just gorgeous,” he said.
The property at the corner of Little Road and Trinity Boulevard was supposed to be the area’s crown jewel.
“It’s got a Mediterranean look, but it’s main street with the round and round and the clock tower,” said Harris, who owns Harris Auctions.
But instead it has sat unfinished and in limbo. A victim of bad business dealings and a bad economy.
“A lot of money lost here. A lot of dreams probably went up in smoke,” said Harris.
With graffiti, broken windows and faded paint, it’s an eyesore for Trinity residents like Kevin Agren.
“Over 7, 8 years of it just sitting here empty. With the county doing nothing, people doing nothing about it,” he said.
Previous attempts to bring in tenants failed, but now with ownership in bankruptcy, the property is going up for auction at the end of the month.
It appraised as high as $40 million, but with the condition it’s in, the sale price could be much lower.
“Any kind of sale or transaction to get the property actually moving would be amazing for the community,” said Agren.
Whoever buys it could keep the original plans of using it for office space, retail and restaurants.
There are also rumors of a college satellite campus.
“It will certainly be an improvement of what it is now which is empty,” said Harris.
If a transformation takes place, it should be a boost for home values.
Harris says the highest bidder will get the property cleared of liens. Then they can start cleaning up the mess.
