A historic Portsmouth building and the vacant commercial lot beside it will sell to the highest bidder with no minimum, no reserve and no starting price on Thursday, Dec. 10, directly across the street from the city’s $34.2 million riverfront development project. Auction Ohio Real Estate will sell the property at 605 Front Street and the adjoining lot at 613 Front Street at absolute auction at 2 p.m. ET, with live on-site and online simulcast bidding, the company announced in a Nov. 11 release via EIN Presswire.
The sale covers two tracts that can be bid on separately or together, the release said. Tract 1, at 605 Front Street, is a historic building on a 102-by-132-foot corner lot, with about 3,316 square feet on two floors plus a finished basement of about 1,200 square feet and a finished attic. Tract 2, at 613 Front Street, is a vacant commercial lot of about 62 by 132 feet. Combined, the tracts total just under half an acre, according to the release.
The timing is the story. The property faces Court Street Landing, where Gov. Mike DeWine broke ground in August 2025 on the state-funded Portsmouth Riverfront Development Project, which is nearing completion, the release said. A ribbon cutting for the riverfront project is scheduled for Nov. 20, three weeks before the auction.
The riverfront project adds a flood-resilient amphitheater, a scenic overlook, a kayak launch and the "Confluence" sculpture at Alexandria Point Park, a three-mile riverwalk trail loop, an inclusive playground, and a 60-site RV campground beside Ridgeline Park, according to the release. The property also sits across from the entrance through the floodwall to Portsmouth Riverfront Park and its new 4,000-seat amphitheater, the company said. Next, a $40 million boat dock is planned by mid-summer 2027, the release said.
The building itself was used as a group home through May 2026 and has a full wet sprinkler system and a commercial basement kitchen with a fire-suppression hood, according to the release. Original features include four black marble fireplaces, original woodwork and a Victorian iron fence.
The property is in Portsmouth’s Boneyfiddle Historic Business District, minutes from Shawnee State University and its Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, and the corner lot faces Portsmouth’s famous Floodwall Murals, the release said. The company is pitching the sale to investors and developers positioning next to the new riverfront, buyers looking to restore a large historic residence, owner-users seeking office, hospitality or mixed-use space, student-housing investors and builders interested in the adjoining lot, according to the release.
Terms are a 10% deposit and a 10% buyer’s premium, with closing within 30 days, and a 2% buyer broker commission is available to cooperating agents, the release said. Auction Ohio Real Estate said it has conducted real estate auctions across Ohio for about 40 years.
What happens next: open houses are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24, from 2 to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 2 to 4 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 5, from noon to 2 p.m., with auction-day inspection from noon on Dec. 10, according to the release. Photos and registration are at auctionohiorealestate.com, the company said.
Photo: Vasiliymeshko, CC BY 4.0