The Woodrums' Building, 600-602 Virginia St. E. in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, is shown on Aug. 19, 2025.
CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE | Gazette-Mail
A West Virginia developer was the winning bidder in on online auction for the historic Woodrums' Building, located in downtown ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.
Of the six bidders, AB Holding LLC, of Point Pleasant, Mason County made the winning bid of $852,500, according to Edward Durnil, broker and auctioneer with Kentucky-based Tranzon Asset Advisors, which facilitated the auction.
"Everything went swimmingly well," Durnil said Wednesday. The auction ended Tuesday afternoon. "All parties are under contract and the deposits have been made. Hopefully this is the end of difficult process."
The Woodrums' Building, 600-602 Virginia St., E., has been auctioned three times in nine months.
A $2.5 million sale fell through following a November auction of the former furniture store. That prospective buyer was sued over the aborted sale. In the second auction in January, an anonymous online buyer was the high bidder, at $1.37 million. That sale was never finalized, either.
The property was owned by Woodrum’s Building Limited Partnership, a company owned and operated by William "Bill" and Debra Board. WBLP defaulted on a loan to WesBanco bank, according to Kanawha County records.
The six-story, 93,000-square-foot structure — built in 1916 on the northeast corner of Virginia Street East and Laidley Street — was the longtime home of the Woodrum’s furniture store. In 1996, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
More on the winning bidder
AB Holding LLC is listed on the West Virginia Secretary of State's website with the same address as AB Contracting of Point Pleasant, which developed the 304 at Valley Pointe luxury apartment complex in Hurricane and the 900 on Lee luxury apartment project in the former Huntington Bank building, also in downtown ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.
"I think this is going to be a group that will turn the property into a jewel," said Durnil.
At the moment, details about AB Construction's plans for the property are unclear.
"There is no timeline, and there are no immediate plans for the building," said Brittany Allen, director of marketing for AB Construction, on Wednesday. A message left for Bill Board was not returned.
