Joseph Finn Auctioneers of Boston will make a return engagement to Chicago ? its third in two years ? to sell off Avenue Edit’s multi-million dollar assets.
Inspection will take place Dec. 8 at Avenue’s former facility at 444 N. Michigan, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the auction will be held Dec. 9 at the Westin Hotel, 909 N. Michigan.
Featured in the auction will be 711 items of equipment and high-end furniture. Most of the equipment was purchased in the past two years, including 14 Avids that formed the core of the post house when it moved from its longtime space at 525 N. Michigan to its final resting place.
Although the landlord at 444 N. Michigan agreed to allow an inspection, it would not consent to holding the auction on the premises. Instead, auctioneer Paul Finn said they booked a theatre-style space at the Westin Hotel. Items will be exhibited via slides and shown on big screens and the auction also will be webcast.
Finn says the equipment sale should do well “as it is all late-style hi-def pieces.”
Among those items are a Filmlight scanner/grader, a 2009 Autodesk Flame, two 2009 Smokes, an Envision 128×128 router, audio mixing parcels and “tons of office furniture, Herman Miller chairs and funky desks and chandeliers,” he said.
Assets of the sale will be used to pay creditors. Finn would not speculate on the amount of money the auction will generate, except to say “it should do very well.” An amount between $2 and $3 million is generally expected.
Finn and his brother Ross conducted the auctions of old-line post houses Swell/S2 in July, 2006, followed a month later by that of Del Hall Video. Swell had declared bankruptcy and Del Hall sold his West Loop property to condo developers.
Avenue Edit had been in business for 28 years. It was founded by Rick Ledyard, who sold his company in 2006 in preparation of a permanent transition to his Montana ranch. New owner Jonathan Turk was well-meaning, but it was felt it did not understand the creative culture and turned a deaf ear to progressive ideas presented by staff members.
The company began falling apart after the move to the bigger, new space when employees were let go and several broke off to form rival companies.
Joseph Finn & Co.’s phone is 617/964-1886. See
