TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – An iconic FSU fraternity house sold at auction Friday for $5 million.
The Sigma Alpha Epsilon house on College Avenue is in the heart of fraternity row just blocks from Westcott Hall.
Court records show the SAE house was in foreclosure and an online auction Friday morning ended in just a matter of minutes with a winning bid of $5 million dollars.
The Leon County Circuit Clerk’s Office tells us the top bid came from the FSU Board of Trustees.
Dennis Schnittker, FSU’s Assistant Vice President for University Communications, confirmed the purchase.
”Like many leading universities, Florida State has limited room to expand within its existing footprint. Strategic real estate acquisitions help ensure we can meet the needs of future generations of students, faculty, and researchers while advancing our long-term mission,“ Schnittker said.
WCTV has not been able to confirm yet whether the College Avenue house will remain a fraternity house or what impact it could have on SAE’S who live there.
WCTV has reached out to SAE’s National Headquarters for comment.
Foreclosure documents list “415 West College Avenue, LLC” as the owner of the property. Sunbiz records list Dan Gilbertson as the registered agent of that LLC. He is the longtime owner of Potbelly’s just a few doors down from the fraternity house.
An SAE FSU Alumni webpage says Gilbertson worked with the fraternity starting in 2015 to renovate the “historic house and build a significant housing structure behind the vintage home to house the brothers of the SAE fraternity at Florida State.”
The website says the first fraternity brothers moved in in August 2017.
Gilbertson filed for bankruptcy just minutes before the auction started, court records show, and did not place a bid on the property.
WCTV has reached out to Gilbertson for comment but has not yet heard back.
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