By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – When Shannon and Paul Beaulieu bought their Niskayuna Street home 11 years ago, it was surrounded by woods and hills, blackberry bushes and wildlife.

In a couple of months, it’ll be surrounded by a Subaru dealership.

“I’ve heard people talking about it. People say Those idiots are living in the middle of a car lot,'” Paul Beaulieu said.

The Beaulieus are willing to sell their 1934 Colonial and the quarter-acre it sits on. With two small children, three cats and a dog, they don’t really want to live in a car dealership.

The owners of Evergreen Subaru, which will hug the Beaulieus on three sides, have said they’re willing to buy.

But the company offered $50,000, an assessment from 1990 that was still the official valuation at the time.

“Fifty thousand is just a total joke,” Shannon Beaulieu said.

The city recently revalued the property at nearly $178,000.

For now the two sides remain at a stalemate. The Beaulieus refuse to sell for less than their home is worth. The owners of Evergreen say they can’t afford to pay what the family wants.

And construction on the dealership continues.

The Beaulieus bought their two-story, three bedroom house for $59,000 11 years ago. They knew the area was zoned to allow businesses, but they didn’t think anyone would ever want to build in U shape around them.

Then, about a year-and-a-half ago, they got a call from a real estate agent who wanted to know if they’d be willing to sell.

“I was like Uh. Uh.’ I didn’t know what to say,” Shannon Beaulieu said.

She soon found out that three partners – publicist Doug Weisz, college professor Mike Wasserman and real estate agent Jonathan Ruhl – had bought two neighboring properties, including the large parcel that nearly encircled their house. The trio planned to open a Subaru franchise around them.

Weisz said the real estate agent who called the family was not working for them and they had no interest in the Beaulieus’ property. When Shannon Beaulieu called them to find out what was going on, one of the partners agreed to make an offer on her house and land.

At the time, the city listed the property’s value at $50,000. That’s what they offered.

“We had no other frame of reference for what was appropriate or fair,” Weisz said. “We needed a place to start talking.”

But the Beaulieus say the offer was so low it was insulting. They saw houses around them selling for more than $170,000. They looked for a new house and found prices ranging from $150,000 to $200,000.

“They were still fixer-uppers,” Paul Beaulieu said.

Months later, in its citywide revaluation, Auburn listed the Beaulieu property at nearly $178,000. The Beaulieus told Evergreen Subaru they would take $175,000.

The partners balked.

“I think the fair number is somewhere between the two ($50,000 and $175,000),” Weisz said.

The partners, who spent $350,000 on 2.7 acres for their dealership, said they couldn’t afford to spend another $175,000. Discussions came to a halt.

Since then, the car lot’s construction has continued. The Beaulieus, who used to be bordered by woods, are now bordered by a fence erected by the company. They used to see woods and animals when they looked out their kitchen window. They now see a garage bay.

In a couple of months, Evergreen Subaru will move in cars.

Weisz said he empathizes with the family, but he isn’t going to buy them out for what he considers a high asking price.

“We couldn’t afford $175,000,” he said. “I know we look like big developers, but we’re not. I had to sell my own house to do this.”

The Beaulieus said they’ll sell their house to Evergreen or to another person or business willing to buy. But they have to have get enough money to buy somewhere else.

Until then, they said, they aren’t moving, no matter what surrounds them.

“For all the heartache we’ve been through, we’re staying here,” Shannon Beaulieu said.

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