Another high-profile office property sells in Tacoma, this time to out-of-state buyer
Tacoma Class A office space is suddenly a hot ticket for out-of-area buyers, and a recent sale closes another chapter between the city and a Tacoma legacy family who helped create some of those offices.
In a deal signed Dec. 20 and recorded by the county Jan. 5, the Columbia Bank Center, 1301 A St., sold for $58.3 million to an LLC representing Boyd Watterson Asset Management of Cleveland.
According to its website, “Boyd Watterson’s real estate strategies invest in commercial properties (office, warehouse and flex space) leased predominantly to high credit-quality tenants.”
Columbia Bank’s main operations and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors are among the current tenants.
The seller was 1301 A Street LLC, representing among others Christian Haub, CEO of the Tengelmann Group. Born in Tacoma, Haub lives in Munich, Germany with his family.
The nine-story building was built in 2001 and owned by the Haub family trust, with ownership transferred to subsidiary 1301 A Street LLC in February 2015, according to excise tax records on file with the county.
The Haub family, led by German billionaire Erivan Haub, were instrumental in the redevelopment of downtown Tacoma, supporting the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus, the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum and LeMay-America’s Car Museum.
The building was built on the site of a former KeyBank building. Haub first considered simply remodeling that building at the time but decided to raze and create a new high rise after both Columbia Bank and Frank Russell expressed interest in leasing space, according to News Tribune coverage of the building’s opening in 2001.
The sale follows two other high-profile transactions, with one involving another Class A office building. The Tacoma Financial Center, 1145 Broadway, was purchased for $41.25 million (excluding fees and closing costs) by DM Ventures TFC, an LLC representing Kirkland-based MJR Development, in December.
In November, the former Key Tower, 1119 Pacific Ave., sold to Spokane-based InterUrban Development for $6.5 million. The developers plan to offer a mix of office and residential units at the site.
This is the second headline-making news tied to Columbia Bank in recent months. Tacoma-based Columbia Banking System, Inc., the parent company of Columbia Bank, and Portland, Oregon,-based Umpqua Holdings Corp., the parent company of Umpqua Bank, announced their plans to merge in October.
