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As WW reported earlier this month, the former Gordon’s Fireplace Shop building at 3312 NE Broadway was slated for an online auction Jan. 21-23.
But before that auction could occur, attorneys representing Robert Boyce, the Seattle investor who financed the building’s purchase, filed objections in Multnomah County Circuit Court, resulting in the auction being rescheduled for March 3-5.
After the lender on the project, a Cayman Islands-registered investment firm, foreclosed last year, the court appointed a receiver to sell the building. In Jan. 6 filings, Boyce’s attorneys objected to the receiver’s plan for an online auction, asking that the auction be “postponed indefinitely” and arguing a more effective route would be first listing the property with a commercial broker for up to nine months. Boyce’s attorneys say that would likely yield a higher sales price.
Boyce’s attorneys also said that if the property is to be auctioned, there must be a minimum bid of $1.5 million to protect Boyce’s interests. (A Boyce-backed company bought the property for $2.7 million in 2017 and then spent a substantial amount on plans and preliminary renovations.) A hearing has not yet been scheduled to resolve Boyce’s objections.
In the meantime, residents of the Grant Park neighborhood, who are tired of the eyesore the building has become, are very disappointed.
“This is just another in a long line of disappointments for us regarding this property,” says Neon Brooks, land use chair of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association. “It’s hard to be hopeful but we will continue to stay engaged.”