He surely thought he got the deal of a lifetime: A California pastor scooped up a lot with the official-sounding address of 610 Grand Street in Alameda for a relatively cheap $300,000 at auction, reports SFGate. Then he sent his realtor to take photos, only to learn that 610 Grand Street is underwater, literally. And now, the same seller has put it back on the market a year later for $400,000. See the listing here. “One of the neighbors contacted me and said, ‘Oh is this a joke?’ And I said, no it’s not a joke. Someone bought it and they own it now,” realtor April Jones tells ABC7.
The lot sits under what is now a lagoon along ritzy Grand Street, and the Alameda Post explains the background: Decades ago, it used to be part of a larger single property owned by a fruit magnate, but the lot was submerged when dredging created the South Shore neighborhood in the 1950s. The family trust that owned the lot finally stopped paying taxes on it, and the county then put it up for auction.
Whoever buys the lot could theoretically build on it, but it would be a logistical nightmare in a few ways. For one, any structure that goes up would not be allowed to restrict the flow of the lagoon’s water or prevent boats from traversing the waterway, the city planning manager tells the Post. For another, the builder would have to figure out how to properly support it in the lagoon’s bed. Still, the property less than a mile from the beach in a nice neighborhood is expected to sell. “You just got to find the right tech person and they’ll get in here and be sure to make it the most expensive property on the block,” a local tells the ABC station. (More strange stuff stories.)
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