Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 28, 1990 TAG: 9007280111
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was bought for $199,000 by the family of Bob Zimmerman, an owner of Roanoke Electric Zupply.
Lucion, who was not at the sale, is to report to jail Monday to begin serving a 10-year sentence for racketeering and fraud.
It was the second Lucion building Zimmerman has bought. At an earlier foreclosure sale, Zimmerman paid $102,000 for the adjacent three-story building that had been Lucion's office and apartment.
Zimmerman said he once briefly owned a Norfolk Avenue warehouse with Lucion until he bought Lucion's share.
Lucion, a Roanoke real estate agent, and Elmer Craft, a Vinton accountant, were tried in U.S. District Court on charges of stealing more than $2 million from 85 investors in a shopping center scam.
Lucion's 1984 renovation of the Salem Avenue building was a bold venture because it put housing in a warehouse area of downtown. The Norfolk Southern tracks are nearby and a bank of warehouses is directly behind.
The Lucion building was damaged by a flood in 1985. Lucion got a $78,600 disaster loan from the SBA in January 1986. The SBA loan was a second lien on the property; a first mortgage for $136,500 was from Colonial-American Bank, now part of Crestar.
The Crestar loan balance of $134,000 has to be paid as part of the sale.
The four-story building at 135 W. Salem Ave. has seven apartments and three office suites. The bidding related only to the SBA loan, so Zimmerman got the property for a $66,000 bid. That bid, added to the Crestar loan, represents the purchase price.
Zimmerman said the building is assessed for tax purposes at $234,000. Delinquent real estate taxes of some $10,000 are to be paid out of the selling price.
by CNB