Longaberger Homestead complex set for auction

The Longaberger Homestead in Frazeysburg is set to be privately auctioned next month.

The move comes a month after the Longaberger Co. revealed it was close to selling its iconic “Big Basket” headquarters for $1.55 million, well below the original asking price of $5 million.

Ten-X Commercial Real Estate will hold the online-only auction for the Homestead from Sept. 25 to Sept. 27, with bids starting at $5 million and a participation deposit of $25,000.

The mixed-use industrial and commercial campus includes 1.9 million square feet of distribution, manufacturing, office and retail space on 563 acres in Muskingum County.

Longaberger Co. parent JRJR Networks fully occupies the property, at 5563 and 6055 Raiders Road, which means a buyer will have “immediate cash flow available” from those tenants, according to Ten-X Commercial.

Longaberger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Longaberger Co. opened the Longaberger Homestead in June 1999. The $25 million complex, which includes shops, restaurants and demonstration areas, was intended to feature a daily parade, street entertainers and variety shows.

However, the company has struggled since Dave Longaberger’s death the year it opened. Bad economic times and changing décor tastes sent sales from a peak of $1 billion in 2000 to about $100 million in 2014.

In December 2011, Longaberger announced that it was looking to sell or lease a significant part of the manufacturing campus in Frazeysburg.

Several rounds of layoffs occurred.

Longaberger Co. seemed to be on the path to recovery after direct-sales-firm holding company CVSL (now called JRJR Networks) bought a 51.7 percent stake in Longaberger in 2013.

However, financial problems persisted: Longaberger Co. owes more than $800,000 to local taxing entities related to the cost of roadwork, lighting and other improvements made when the Big Basket was built.

The basketmaker vacated its headquarters building in July 2016, moving the dozen or so remaining office workers to the Frazeysburg campus.

Longaberger Co. was served with foreclosure documents on the headquarters building in April.