Estate that served as headquarters of Vick dogfighting enterprise fails to sell at auction

Estate that served as headquarters of Vick dogfighting enterprise fails to sell at auction

A reporter looks around the second floor of an outbuilding that was part of the Bad Newz Kennels at the house once owned by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in Surry, Va., Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007.

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By Associated Press

SURRY, Va. (AP) - The 15-acre estate that served as Michael Vick's dogfighting headquarters failed to sell at auction Saturday.

The owner of the property in rural southeastern Virginia, real estate developer Wilbur Ray Todd Jr., rejected a final bid of $747,000, the assessed value of the property at 1915 Moonlight Road. The bidder was anonymous. There were only two bidders and the opening bid was $345,000.

"I didn't see the people in the crowd I thought we needed," a disappointed Todd said after the auction held inside the house. He said he will list the property for sale.

Todd said it would cost about $1 million to build a similar house on 15 acres.

Vick, the suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback, is serving a 23-month sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy. Vick and three co-defendants raised pit bulls and trained them for fighting in the rugged wooded area behind a 4,600-square-foot white brick house.

Vick paid about $34,000 for the tract in 2002 and had the house built. Behind the house and a full-size basketball court, partly obscured by a fence, are four outbuildings and dozens of dog cages.

According to court papers, some of the dogfights were held on the second floor of one of the outbuildings. There are other remnants of Vick's "Bad Newz Kennels" dogfighting enterprise, including a metal pole and chain that was used to restrain pit bulls.

Hundreds of people - most of them just curious - toured the property during three open houses over the past week.

Vick sold the property for $450,000 to Todd, who spent an additional $50,000 fixing up the place, which had been trashed by burglars and looters.

"By the time you pay a commission and taxes, it gets eaten up real quick," Todd said to explain why the nearly $250,000 he would have made from auction's final bid was not enough.

The house has two master suites and a media room with wet bar. A double-sided gas fireplace separates the bathroom from the bedroom in the upstairs master suite.

Other amenities include jetted tubs, freshly refinished hardwood floors, a two-car garage and an expansive kitchen with center island, granite countertops and built-in stainless steel appliances.
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