Cannery Lofts condo auction results in sale of most units

Published 4:00 pm Monday, November 30, 2009

The Nov. 1 auction of 29 condo units in Astoria’s Cannery Lofts 33-unit Phase II structure was billed as a success by Rhett Winchell, president of Beverly Hills-based auction company Kennedy Wilson that handled the sale. The condominium complex is located at the foot of 39th Street on the Columbia River.

Cannery Lofts was developed by Urban Pacific Group, headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. The company sold most of the condos in its 30-unit Phase I building before embarking upon construction of Phase II in the fall of 2007.

“The auction was well attended,” Winchell said. “Our goal was to sell as many properties as possible. We sold more than 20 units the day of the auction.”

Some additional units sold after the auction, and on press date, only four more units were still up for sale with a price tag of $145,000.

“The remaining units are non-view, smaller units, and we’re working with existing leads and buyers who registered for the auction to try to sell those properties,” said Winchell.

As of mid-November, about half of the auctioned properties had closed. More are expected to close within a few weeks.

Winchell said there was competitive bidding on a wide variety of the units sold at the

auction, and that some were bid up aggressively, while others were not. Successful bids on the units ranged from $150,000 to $260,000.

Winchell believes the auction approach to moving large numbers of properties is a very efficient selling approach.

“We have happy homeowners and a happy seller. A property auction brings buyers and sellers together. It’s a great way to buy, because it demonstrates what people are willing to pay.”

When asked about the effect of the sale of a large number of properties on existing Cannery Lofts condo owners, Winchell said it may affect homeowners for 30 to 60 days.

“Most homeowners will benefit in the long run. They may be affected in the short term. Appraisers usually go back only 30 days for comparables, but as time goes on, the auction prices will have no bearing on later sales,” Winchell said.

Winchell added that an auction is typically a good marketing vehicle to sell out these units.

“When homeowners are trying to sell, they are no longer competing with the builder, just other homeowners.”

Mark Popkin is a realtor with Area Properties in Astoria. He currently has a Cannery Lofts condo listed for sale for an existing owner. He said that with an auction of so many properties at prices well below wholesale, it will have an impact on a community of this size.

“A buyer will have a hard time justifying paying a higher price for one of those condos now,” Popkin said. “But,” he added, “There are condos for sale elsewhere in the community, and I believe people will still pay for quality.”

The auction was conducted with the cooperation of Columbia Bank, Bank of Astoria’s parent company. Bank of Astoria wrote the loan on the Phase II project. An unofficial lien search by a local title company revealed a $7.6 million trust deed had been filed on the Phase II project.

Heather Seppa, Bank of Astoria president, confirmed that Urban Pacific is not in receivership.

“These are obviously very challenging times, but the borrower has been very cooperative,” she said.

Seppa also said she was pleased to see the people who bid on the auctioned units were not just in search of an attractive investment.

“It was encouraging to see that the people attending and seeking to buy these properties were looking at these units for use as primary residences or as second homes,” she said.

The Bank of Astoria’s objective relative to this project is simple, Seppa said.

“We just want to see these all units sold and occupied.”

Urban Pacific Group’s CEO Scott Choppin did not return phone calls for this story.