Published March 2003

Pair of Lynnwood
office buildings
to be auctioned off

By Eric Fetters
Herald Business Writer

Two large office properties near I-5 in Lynnwood will go on the auction block in March, a year after the owner of the vacant buildings filed for bankruptcy.

The bidding for buildings A and C at the Quadrant I-5 Center will start at $17.5 million, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court documents.

The auction, to be conducted at the Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, is set for March 3.

The buildings on 44th Avenue W. contain 236,000 square feet of premium Class A office space. Built in the early 1990s, the two-story and seven-story structures have an assessed value of more than $24 million, according to county records.

However, without a tenant on the horizon the buildings could be a tough sell in this market, said Brian Toy, an associate broker with Cushman & Wakefield.

“Lynnwood looks good long term. But I don’t know about the next two years. It’s been fairly slow,” said Toy, who is trying to find tenants for the nearby Cosmos Lynnwood Center.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest statistics, the two Quadrant I-5 buildings make up more than one-third of the Class A office space available for lease in the southern half of Snohomish County.

If there are no bids at or above the minimum level, Iowa-based Life Investors Insurance Company of America, the biggest lien holder on the buildings, will become the owner.

Last fall, CarrAmerica Realty Corp. tentatively agreed to buy the buildings from Rosche One Interests LP. That deal fell through, and the court recently agreed to put the buildings up for auction. The buyer will receive the properties free and clear of all liens, according to the court.

The Boeing Co. occupied the three buildings that make up the Quadrant I-5 Center until 2001, when it vacated the entire complex. Rosche One, which is based in Texas, subsequently defaulted on a loan and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Early in 2002, Washington Mutual leased the two-story Building B, which is owned by a separate New York-based partnership. But the Rosche One-owned buildings have remained empty.

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