The undeveloped area of Starpointe Industrial Park in northern Washington County is expected to be sold to a private buyer after it had been on the brink of sheriff’s sale in recent months.

The Washington County commissioners during their Tuesday morning workshop meeting placed a motion on Thursday’s agenda to authorize the sale of the property from the Washington County Council on Economic Development to ALTIAN Development LLC of Pennsylvania.

No price or other details about the potential sale were released in the motion, although it indicates that ALTIAN plans to continue developing the industrial business park located on 1,200 acres that straddle U.S. Route 22 in Smith and Hanover townships. An estimated 900 acres are still available for development.

According to business records, ALTIAN is a recently formed limited liability company that shares a business address with Alex E. Paris Contracting’s headquarters on state Route 18 in Atlasburg. Company President Alex Paris politely declined comment Tuesday afternoon, but said he expected to be able to speak about their plans if and when the sale is finalized, which could happen next month.

WCCED officials did not respond to phone messages seeking comment Tuesday about the potential sale.

Starpointe has been on the verge of being auctioned off at sheriff’s sale after contractor Independence Excavating Inc. was awarded an $11.193 million judgment for lack of payments by WCCED. The sale was originally scheduled for July 12, but was delayed until Sept. 6 before being postponed again, presumably because a potential sale is being finalized.

According to the sheriff’s sale information, an additional $3.27 million is outstanding, including $2.6 million owed on two separate bank loans and more than $400,000 in late monthly payments that still must be sent to the Hanover Township Sewer Authority. An additional $223,859 in “poundage” is included in the sale list to account for the 2 percent transfer tax.

Washington County Commission Chairman Nick Sherman said three businesses at Starpointe have expressed interest in expanding, but were unable to do so because of the uncertainty with the industrial park. He said the sale will hopefully clear the way to developing more parcels in the near future.

“I’m excited that we’re going to have good economic development on the northwestern side of the county,” Sherman said. “That development has been a black eye and a lead balloon. It just hasn’t been able to get off the ground.”

He added that the county intends to perform an audit on WCCED to see why that entity fell behind on payments to the point that Starpointe was scheduled for sheriff’s sale. WCCED is a separate entity from the county and not directly controlled by the commissioners.

“It’s on the cusp of sheriff’s sale, and with this sale to a private buyer, all the loans that have been accrued will be paid,” Sherman said. “All parties will be made whole and the park will be moving in a positive direction.”

Starpointe opened for development in October 2004 and instantly became the county’s largest industrial park. Unlike Southpointe’s mixed-use development, Starpointe offers more land for larger industries and manufacturing companies.