Winning bidder for ferry at port says seller decided to sell it to someone else
The winning bidder for a former Washington state ferry that has been docked at the Port of Olympia for nearly two years said Tuesday that the seller has decided to sell it to someone else.
Nathan Altman of Los Angeles reached out to The Olympian and said he was the winning bidder for the 310-foot ferry posted on the online auction site eBay. The bidding started at $100,000 and eventually grew to $205,100.
He said for this type of sale on eBay there is no binding contract between buyer and seller. Once the bidding closes, the two parties have to work out the details on how to close the transaction.
Altman asked for documentation about the vessel, including proof of ownership, but he claims the seller Greg Jones didn’t want to provide any of that until he transferred the money. Altman found that disconcerting, so he reached out again to Jones on Saturday after the auction closed Friday night, only to be told that Jones had found a different buyer.
“I wish them the best,” said Altman about the other buyer.
Jones declined to comment on Tuesday.
Altman and his investors had planned to use the ferry as a mobile art factory, a place where large pieces of art could be created as it moved from port to port. He directed The Olympian to his LinkedIn page, which shows that he was once the Burning Man pavilion project manager.
Burning Man is a social and artistic gathering in the Nevada desert that attracts thousands.
Altman is also a partner in a business called Altman investments, according to his LinkedIn page.
He said Tuesday that he reached out to Jones as soon as he heard the ferry was for sale, and expressed his intention to be an active bidder.
“We wanted to make a run at it and breathe some life into it,” he said about the ferry.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
