Jon Gollinger, chief executive of Accelerated Marketing Partners, the Boston firm that ran the Bryant Back Bay and Nouvelle at Natick auctions last year, said the Brimmer auction would likely be a "watershed event" for single family homes in downtown Boston.

"You are not looking for bottom feeders, you are looking for people who don't want to overpay,'' he said. "It allows a critical mass of people to come in and bid on it and ultimately prove the price point."