A former Catholic school building in Olean that’s owned by the bankrupt Buffalo Diocese is likely to be sold in November – with proceeds from the sale ultimately going toward an anticipated settlement with childhood sex abuse claimants.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Carl L. Bucki on Wednesday approved the diocese’s plan to auction the former Archbishop Walsh Academy and Southern Tier Catholic School property on Nov. 14 through a stalking horse bid process.
Walsh Huskies LLC, a real estate development company based in Olean, signed a purchase agreement with the diocese in June for $50,000 and agreed to be the stalking horse bidder. Other potential bidders now will have until Nov. 9 to submit a written bid that’s at least $6,000 more than the stalking horse offer.
If a higher bid or bids materialize, an auction will be held Nov. 14 with Walsh Huskies LLC and the other invited bidders at the table. The in-person bidding will start at the highest submitted written bid.
If no other written bids get submitted, the property will be sold to Walsh Huskies for $50,000. Any sale is noncontingent. Bucki will have to approve the sale at a hearing set for Nov. 15.
“Somebody had to get the ball rolling to get this auction going, and that’s all I did,” Jess Anderson said in an interview with The News, after a hearing Tuesday on the proposed sale. Anderson is a partner in Walsh Huskies, a commercial real estate company with rental properties in Ellicottville.
If the deal goes through, it could be the first of many diocese property sales in bankruptcy proceedings that are aimed at ensuring the diocese emerges as a financially viable entity, while also paying settlements for nearly 900 sex abuse claimants, many of whom sued the diocese in state court under the Child Victims Act.
Bucki in June allowed diocese officials to hire an appraiser to come up with current valuations for 37 diocese properties in six counties, including six school…
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