PROVIDENCE – The 903 Residences in Providence will not be going on the auction block Thursday morning after all.
The auction and appraisal firm Paul E. Saperstein Co. Inc., which had been scheduled to conduct the sale at 11 a.m. Thursday, said on its Web site that the foreclosure auction of 233 apartments and about 447 parking spaces had been cancelled.
It was not immediately clear what stopped it. Paolino Properties, which manages the property, declined to comment. The903Auction.com, a Web site promoting the auction, did not say anything about the cancellation as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Built in 2004, The 903 contains 330 condominiums – 97 which have been sold – and a 584-space parking garage. The complex is owned by The Athena Group LLC, a New York-based real estate investment firm. About 170 of the 233 unsold units are being rented for an average of $1,330, according to CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., which had been retained to market the property.
The 903 has a special tax break in place that limits its property tax liabilities until the end of 2012, according to CB Richard Ellis. The auction was scheduled to include 109 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units; 115 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units; and nine studios.
Once promoted by former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr., The 903 has struggled amid a broader downturn in the condo market. The Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported the median condo sales price slid 29 percent to $161,000 in September compared with a year earlier, although the number of sales increased.
