Enbridge to buy, absorb Houston assets
Sale to help determine the values of Harvey-damaged homes in Meyerland, where a number of properties are on the market
Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge plans to buy back its Houston subsidiaries and absorb them into the larger Enbridge corporation in a roughly $9 billion deal.
Ahalf-dozen flooded houses mostly in Meyerland will hit the auction block next month, a process expected to help set the value of Harvey-damaged properties in the area.
“Sellers have been hit by all these lowball offers. They just don’t know how to act or react,” said Houston real estate broker Paul Lynn, who is handling the auction. “Here’s another way to get it sold, to get confirmation of what the value is.”
Opening bids for the homes — mostly 1960s-era ranches — will be from $150,000 to $350,000.
Meyerland was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods during Hurricane Harvey and previous storms. It now has a glut of properties for sale. A recent count of listings by real estate agents came to 147.
“Meyerland is really soft, and there are a lot of for-saleby-owners that are out there, too,” Lynn said.
The auction properties are generally not in habitable condition, Lynn said, and will need to be razed, rebuilt or demolished. One has been renovated.
He’s expecting interest from builders, homebuyers and investors, who have been scouring the market for properties.
A recent Chronicle investigation showed that investors have purchased at least 5,500 flooded houses since Hurricane Harvey.
Lynn, founder of Paul A. Lynn & Associates, has held real estate auctions for San Antonio’s housing department and has sold more than 1,200 flood-impacted properties in New Orleans for the city’s redevelopment authority. In 2011, he sold 175 houses for the Houston Housing Authority.
The Meyerland auction will be held on June 12 at the Hilton in the Galleria area at 6780 Southwest Freeway. Buyers will need to bring a $10,000 cashier’s check to bid, and closings must take place 30 days after the auction.
Two commercial properties will be auctioned as well: a 11,880-square-foot site in the Memorial City area at Bunker Hill and Baryknoll and a parcel at 6638 N. Main.