The sale of properties from the aborted monorail project will end in mid-March, when sealed bids are opened.

None of the now-surplus properties have been sold yet, said Jonathon Buchter, chief of operations and one of four remaining monorail staff members.

The staff of the Seattle Monorail Project set a deadline of March 17 for potential buyers to submit bids to buy the properties.

The goal is to maximize the price of each parcel to pay off the monorail debt and stop collection of the motor-vehicle excise tax, Buchter said.

In an effort to get the highest possible prices, the top bidders will get a chance to outbid each other for each parcel. High bidders will have five additional days to increase their offers in hopes of beating the competition and winning the sale. Final selection of the highest bidders will take about two weeks, so the successful bidders could be known by early April.

Prior to the March 17 deadline, the Monorail Project will market the properties through real estate listings, newspaper advertising and for-sale signs to increase bidding interest on each property.

The surplus property also will be listed on the Internet through commercial real estate websites. There also will be a dedicated website with particular information about each individual property.

Some parcels probably will be sold individually, but there could be "aggregations of property" sold as one, Buchter said.

All tenants of the monorail-owned buildings received 60-day leases, Buchter said. None have been asked to vacate the premises, he said.

"Our intention is to sell the properties with tenants there," he said. That way the new owners will have the choice of either continuing with the current tenants or making changes.