The second floor of the Loveman’s on Market building in downtown Chattanooga was auctioned Thursday night for more than $1.4 million.
The Maclellan Foundation was the purchaser, said foundation official Tom Lowe.
Mr. Lowe said he did not have any immediate plans for the space, but he instructed auction coordinator Henry Glascock to take the name of anyone who expressed interest in buying a portion of the condo floor.
“It’s a terrific opportunity,” Mr. Glascock said prior to the auction, which drew more than 30 people.
The purchase price was $1.27 million, and the Maclellan Foundation will pay a 10 percent premium to John Dixon & Associates, the auction company. The closing will occur by Sept. 17, Mr. Glascock said.
The six-story building is at Eighth and Market streets. The former department store was built in 1897, according to John Dixon’s Web site.
Eugene H. “Buck” Schimpf III said that in 2004 he began converting the former department store into residential and commercial condos. He sold his interest in 2005, he said, and moved out of the property where he had lived.
Now, he and his wife, real estate broker Darlene Brown, have bought commercial space in the building fronting Cherry Street, he said. Her Real Estate Partners Chattanooga LLC, a real estate brokerage, will move to the building by Sept. 30, Mr. Schimpf said.
Mr. Glascock previously said the 31,000-plus square-foot second floor was being sold by an anonymous seller who received the property through a divorce settlement.
The floor is a shell only, and came with a parking deck adjacent to Loveman’s as well as a basement storage site.
The Maclellan Foundation is named for the family that for many years was associated with Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co., now called Unum Group.
