Deshon Woods property sold
A Penn Township man who said he represents a “local entity” bought the Deshon Woods property in Butler Township on Friday at auction for $1.205 million.
Ted Cranmer, who said he is a lifelong resident of the township and who has interests in oil and gas development as well as real estate, declined to name the group for which he was bidding.
However, he pledged to rehabilitate the property, which was clear-cut as part of work done in preparation for an ill-fated plan by Ohio-based developer Westar to build a new medical center for VA Butler Healthcare.
“It (the property) was an eyesore, and we think it needed to be fixed up,” Cranmer said, “and that’s what we intend to do with it.”
He said there are no immediate plans for the 20.96 acres on Route 68, but he said that a decision would likely be made within 30 days.
Representatives of the financial institutions controlling Deshon Woods said Friday that transferring the deed to the buyer could take weeks or months, depending on various factors.
“It’s a nice sized piece of property in a nice location,” said Michael Shiner, an attorney representing the Erect Fund at Friday’s auction.
“We had kind of hoped someone would want it more than we did.”
Financial institutions took control of Deshon Woods after the former owner, VA Butler Partners, which was an arm of Westar, defaulted on its mortgage with AmeriServe Trust of Johnstown, according to court documents. That mortgage was valued at more than $8.36 million.
Shiner said the institutions were willing to settle for less than that based on their assessment of the property’s actual value.
Chris Sheedy, a senior vice president with AmeriServ, also was in attendance at the auction with Shiner.
Butler Township Commissioner Dave Zarnick said Friday he was aware of the property’s sale, but did not have any information on potential plans for the parcel. Zarnick called the sale a good sign for the property.
“Hopefully we’ll get some development out there and get that property cleaned up,” he said.
