A historic property in downtown Portsmouth will sell to the highest bidder next month, no matter the price. Auction Ohio Real Estate will sell the property at 605 Front Street and the adjoining commercial lot at 613 Front Street at absolute auction on Thursday, December 10, at 2 p.m. ET, the company announced in a November 11 release carried by EIN Presswire.
Absolute means there is no minimum, no reserve and no starting price, according to the release. The sale will be conducted live and online at the same time, with the Front Street building offered as one tract and the vacant lot next door as a second.
The building sits on a 102-by-132-foot corner lot at Front and Court streets, and the adjoining vacant commercial lot measures about 61 feet 10 inches by 132 feet, according to the Auction Ohio Real Estate release. The property is in Portsmouth’s Boneyfiddle Historic Business District, minutes from Shawnee State University and its Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.
What gives the sale its timing is what is rising across the street. The property faces Court Street Landing and sits directly across from the $34.2 million Portsmouth Riverfront Development Project, which is nearing completion, according to the release. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine broke ground on the state-funded riverfront project in August 2025.
The riverfront project, funded by a $34.2 million Appalachian Community Grant Program award under the state’s Wonderful Waterfront initiative, according to an Ohio House of Representatives release, adds a flood-resilient amphitheater, a scenic overlook and a kayak launch at Alexandria Point Park. It also brings a three-mile riverwalk trail loop, an inclusive playground and a 60-site RV campground, according to the auction release.
A ribbon cutting for the riverfront project is scheduled for November 20, according to the release, and a $40 million recreational boat dock is planned next, expected to be completed by mid-summer 2027.
For Portsmouth, the December 10 auction is a test of how much private investment the new riverfront pulls toward the historic downtown around it. Bidders will be buying across the street from the largest public investment the city’s waterfront has seen in generations — and at absolute auction, the market, not the seller, sets the price.
Photo: Vasiliymeshko, CC BY 4.0