Inn auction fails to secure buyer

Hannah’s Garden Inn on Spokane’s lower South Hill remains for sale after a public auction Monday afternoon failed to net a buyer.

While owners did not receive the minimum opening bid of $1.3 million, negotiations could lead to a contract in the next couple of days for at least that much, said auctioneer Jim Owen, division manager for Higgenbotham Auctioneers International Ltd.

Two undisclosed, local parties are interested in buying the inn, said Shawn Nichols, who owns it with his wife, Ann Marie Byrd.

Nichols said about 40 people turned out for the public auction, held in the 30-room mansion, 820 W. Seventh Ave.

“Remarkably and surprisingly, considering we had a number of qualified bidders with bid tickets ready to go, nobody stepped up to the plate for the minimum bid, which was disappointing to be a part of,” Nichols said.

The owners put the inn up for auction after trying unsuccessfully to sell it for $2.5 million.

“That’s the leap of faith that you take,” Nichols said. “We’re confident that it will all work out in the end.”