OKC-based real estate developer submits winning bid for Pacific Wheel
By Daily Press staff
PACIFIC PARK An Oklahoma City-based real estate developer who specializes in walkable communities submitted the winning bid for the Santa Monica Pier’s Ferris wheel, agreeing to pay $132,400 for the iconic landmark.
Pacific Park, which owns the Pacific Wheel, used eBay to solicit bids during a 10-day auction that ended at 12 p.m. Friday. Grant Humphreys, CEO of Humphreys Real Estate Investments, was the top bidder. Humphreys could not be reached for comment.
A check presentation will be made at a later date, said Jeff Klocke, director of marketing and sales at Pacific Park.
Fifty percent of the winning bid will be donated to Special Olympics Southern California, turning the Ferris wheel into a wheel of fortune.
“This has been a great process in finding a new home for the Ferris wheel and we are especially excited to be able to present Special Olympics Southern California with such a large and well-deserved donation,” Klocke said. “Now begins the process of celebrating the Ferris wheel with the community beginning April 28 through May 4.”
During that time, Santa Monica residents can ride on the wheel for free. On May 1 one Santa Monica resident will be selected to be the last rider on the Pacific Wheel. All of Los Angeles will have a turn on the wheel on Sunday, May 4 when all guests ride the Ferris wheel for free as Pacific Park donates $1 per rider to spcaLA from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The auction generated six bidders, 35 bids, 9,342 views and nearly 400,000 Web page visits.
Pacific Park paid $800,000 when it purchased the wheel in 1996, the same year it was installed. It was upgraded two years later to become the world’s first solar-powered Ferris wheel.
Over the last 12 years, more than 3 million people have taken a ride on the wheel. It will be replaced with a $1.5 million contemporary Ferris wheel next month that will feature over 160,000 LED lights that use 75 percent less power than the current wheel’s lights, Klocke said.
Humphreys must pay for the cost of shipping the wheel and purchase a new base for it.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2008. Read the original PDF.