South Waterfront Condo Update, Atwater to Auction

[ EDITOR'S NOTE: See my September 16 update. ]

Slow condo sales along the Willamette force the Atwater and John Ross buildings into ‘soft receivership’. That’s a nice way of saying the banks are taking a primary role in making decisions for the projects.

Ryan Frank of The Oregonian wrote it up on August 7.

Now comes news that the Atwater will try auctioning its inventory.

An auctioneer will put condos under the gavel in Portland Sept. 20 to whip up sales for the 23-story luxury development. The announcement comes after lenders elbowed aside developers of the Atwater and John Ross towers because of slow sales in the sorry housing market.

August 20, 2009 · Filed Under Communities

Comments

4 Responses to “South Waterfront Condo Update, Atwater to Auction”

  1. Earl fraley on September 8th, 2009 10:30 am

    I’ve got a few questions about the auction.
    Is it sealed bid or open bidding?
    What are the HOA fees?
    Is this property FHA approved?
    Can I go to Atwater Place and view the condos to pick which one I want to bid on?

  2. Ron Ares on September 9th, 2009 6:33 am

    Hi Earl,

    I’m going to do an update on the auction, but in response to your questions:

    1) The auction format is an open auction.
    2) The HOA fees range start at $285/month on the 1 bed/1 bath units and are equivalent to $3.30 per square foot on average. The fees cover water, gas, trash, and all common area maintenance.
    3) The property probably not qualify for FHA financing (not enough occupants yet). Your only likely lenders will be the in-house choices, MetLife and Bank of America.
    4) Yes, you can tour the property during their sales office hours (11am – 7pm). If you want an agent to represent you at anytime in the process, you will need to register them at the first visit.

  3. Jenny on September 20th, 2009 6:59 pm

    What was the result of the Auction? Our leader at mentioned that if it was successful other building that are hurting will be doing this. Hopefully the building we are looking at….

  4. Ron Ares on September 20th, 2009 8:28 pm

    Jenny,

    I did not attend the auction. I had a conference all weekend and my client decided not to bid at the auction.

    According to Ryan Frank at the Oregonian, all but one unit sold at auction. They averaged about $300 per sq. ft., well below the list price average of $460 per sq. ft.

    You can view the commentary at http://blog.oregonlive.com/frontporch/2009/09/atwater_place_sunday_auction_r.html and also in the Monday Oregonian.

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