A broker for the property also announced that the annex, a 17,000-square-foot office/retail building near Viewpoint Tower at 411 Fourth Ave. W., and a 31,000-square-foot parking lot at 410 and 420 Fourth Ave. W. also are for sale.
The tower, also known as the Capitol Center Building, is at 410 Fifth Ave. S.W. The annex and the parking lot each are listed for $1.5 million, Pacific Real Estate Partners co-listing agent Troy Dana said.
Prospective buyers have until 3 p.m. Sept. 24 to buy the properties at those prices. As part of the subsequent bid process, bids or proposals will be due at 3 p.m. Sept. 30, followed by the selection of a top bidder Oct. 4. Once the top bidder is selected, the sale is expected to close Dec. 8.
Dana took a similar sale approach with the former Olympia brewery in Tumwater, first offering it during a “buyout” period, followed by bids. His effort to sell the brewery property generated about nine bids, he said, but it took place during the stock market collapse in fall 2008. Dana said he’s more encouraged about selling Viewpoint Tower and the other property in the current economy.
“We have a new economy and a new sense of optimism in the marketplace, and it’s starting to show,” he said.
Dana wouldn’t disclose who has shown interest in buying the property, although he described the parties as an “out-of-state investment group, an out-of-state hotel developer, an in-state conservation group, an in-state hotel developer and a Seattle-based developer.”
Pat Rants, president and chief executive of The Rants Group, a commercial real estate company in Olympia, said requesting bids to stimulate a sale has become more common in recent years.
“It’s still in the minority that you see offerings that way, and it’s typically with properties that haven’t been able to sell in a traditional manner,” Rants said.
Jim Potter of Snohomish is a co-owner of the building, the annex and the parking lot, although with two ownership groups. In January 2005, Capitol Center LLC bought all three properties, and then a separate ownership group, the Views on Fifth Ave. LTD, was created for the nine-story building.
Until now, the owners had been focused on leasing the property, but Potter acknowledged that past Olympia city official discussions to possibly acquire the property and a separate effort to turn it into a park had hampered those efforts.
“We want to see if the city or anyone else will buy it,” Potter said.
The Capitol Center Building, built in 1965, last was occupied by the state Department of Corrections. Capitol Center LLC paid $11.9 million for the property, according to Thurston County assessor data.
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403 rboone@theolympian.com www.theolympian.com/bizblog
