If you have ever daydreamed about owning a library, Dallas is about to test your resolve. The city is putting the red-brick former Skillman Southwestern branch on the auction block after closing the building and sending its books, computers and furniture to other locations. The sale is scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow, and includes a roughly 13,200-square-foot building sitting on about one acre.
Auction date, time and location
The live auction will take place in the Community Showcase Room at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, with bidding set to start at 11 a.m., as reported by The Dallas Morning News. The empty building at 5707 Skillman St. is being sold by the city, and Hudson & Marshall is listed as the auction host. Registration opens one hour before the sale, so would-be buyers will need to show up early if they want a paddle.
How to bid and what’s on the block
Prospective buyers were given open-house viewing opportunities in early February and must clear several registration hurdles: a $25,000 cashier’s check and a written statement about any delinquent taxes, according to the commercial listing and auction materials on LoopNet and Hudson & Marshall’s posting. The city is offering the 13,200-square-foot building and the underlying parcel, roughly one acre in size, but the sale is subject to easement dedications and other conditions detailed in the packet. Buyers should consult the Hudson & Marshall listing for the full bidding packet and legal notes at Hudson & Marshall.
Why the city declared the property surplus
The Skillman Southwestern branch was closed last year amid budget cuts and a shift toward a regional library model, and city officials reassigned materials and equipment to other branches, the reporting shows. The building originally opened in 1996 after voters approved the project decades earlier. The city then moved to declare the site surplus before putting it up for auction, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Neighborhood context and what comes next…