Three historic Natchez, Miss., properties owned by Baton Rouge developer Bob Dean—Eola Hotel, Eola Guest House and the Prentiss Club—have been sold at auction. Tommy Williams of Williams & Williams auction firm in Tulsa, Okla., presided over Tuesday’s auction. A Williams & Williams onsite bid representative submitted the high bids against an onsite crowd of about 20 people. The bidders’ identities were not revealed since the sales are not final. Williams told The Natchez Democrat that the closing will occur within 30 days of acceptance of the bids by Dean of Baton Rouge. Dean also owns The Hotel Bentley in downtown Alexandria. The Bentley has been closed since December 2004.
Dean also auctioned some of his Baton Rouge holdings earlier this week, including the 180-square-foot Commerce Building on Laurel Street; 83,000-square-foot Dean Tower on Florida Boulevard; an eight-story building at 339 Florida St.; two warehouses on Choctaw Street near ExxonMobil; and 55 acres acres of undeveloped land at Plan Road and Main Street in Zachary. Neither Dean nor Dan Falls of Williams & Williams returned calls.
