(Natalie Keith is a contributing writer to GlobeSt.com.)

HOWELL, MI-Developer Jim Lamb raised $5.65 million at an April 1 auction where 47 properties were sold, including condominiums, condominium development sites and vacant land in the I-96 corridor stretching from Woodruff Lake in Brighton to Lansing. GlobeSt.com first reported on Lamb's auction inventory in March.

Lamb put 55 properties on the market during an auction managed by Gadsden, AL-based J.P. King Auction Co. More than 400 people attended the event held at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi.

Lamb says the auction allowed him to sell some properties in a slowing market. "We gained on some and lost on some, but we're happy with the turnout, and in a down market, we obviously got what the bidders today were willing to pay," Lamb says.

Lamb sold the properties to shed inventory and free up capital to pursue other development opportunities. Many of the properties were sold "absolute," meaning they went to the highest bidder with no minimum bid or reserve.

A spokesperson for J.P. King tells GlobeSt.com that Lamb will continue to market the properties that were not sold during the auction, but that he will use traditional methods to sell them. Left to sell include a lakefront home site in Brighton; two homes and a 77-acre development parcel in Howell; eight development parcels in Fowlerville; and one house and one development site in Holt. "He's in the development business so he will continue to sell the properties. But the auction was a one-time deal."