PORTLAND, Ore. — Montgomery Park, Portland's third-largest office building, went back to the lender Wednesday on a foreclosure-sale credit bid of $37.7 million, a stunning 85% fall from its last sale in 2019 of $255 million.
The property at 2701 N.W. Vaughn St. underwent an auction on the steps of the Multnomah County Courthouse on Wednesday morning. Borrowers had defaulted on about $150 million worth of debt last year.
The sale closes a chapter for one of Portland's most recognizable properties, whose 30-foot sign reading Montgomery Park beams for Northwest Portlanders. Owners had high hopes that the 18-acre property could transform into an urbanist's dream: a "mixed-use district" with homes, restaurants and offices. But those aspirations ran aground as the broader market turned.
Some 20 people (brokers, journalists, real estate investors) showed up Wednesday — a chill wind generating some complaints and one man distributing popcorn from a red bag — but nobody offered more than the lender's credit bid of $37.7 million.
Natixis New York Branch, which holds the loan, owns the property for now. Real estate firm Newmark has been tapped to market it for sale, said the lender's representative, Craig Russillo of Schwabe, which conducted the auction.
It's common for a lender to try to sell if it takes the property back under these circumstances, Russillo told reporters.
"Time is of the essence," Russillo said. "When (lenders) take properties back, they don't want to sit on them."
The Portland Business Journal, a news partner of KGW, has more details on the Montgomery Park developments.
