The property at the center of the controversy over the new medical center for VA Butler Healthcare is going up for sheriff's sale.

The Deshon Woods site on Route 68 in Butler Township is to be auctioned at 11 a.m. Friday in the public meeting room of the Butler County Government and Judicial Center.

The Ohio-based developer Westar originally was set to build the new VA center on Deshon Woods, which is adjacent to the existing VA campus on New Castle Road. However, its bid was vacated after the government found that Westar had ties to two men who had served prison terms for crimes unrelated to Westar or the Butler project.

But by the time Westar's bid ran into trouble, the company had clear-cut the 20.96-acre property.

A Westar affiliate — VA Butler Partners Company LLC — bought the site, paying Butler Township $2.4 million for 15.9 acres and paying Butler Memorial Park an undisclosed price for the remaining acreage.

When the project was put out to bid a second time, the VA selected Cambridge Healthcare Solutions to build the facility but on a new site in Center Township, even after another developer, Oxford Development Co., proposed building at Deshon Woods.

The county seized the Deshon Woods property after VA Butler Partners defaulted on its mortgage with AmeriServ Trust of Johnstown, according to court documents. That mortgage, which is valued at more than $8.36 million, according to the county sheriff's office, will likely serve as the baseline for any winning bid on the property.

Get a full report in Thursday's Butler Eagle.