Crescent Court bidding wrapping up

Bidding will close at the end of the week on WestCoast Hospitality’s Crescent Court building in downtown Spokane.

The 240,000-square-foot property has been offered for sale for several months through real estate broker CB Richard Ellis in Seattle at $21.5 million. Then last week, WestCoast launched a bidding process for the building. The company, however, is not obligated to accept the top bid.

“Our broker felt that sometimes draws more attention,” said Julie Langenheim, WestCoast’s investor relations manager, of the bidding process. “That is a standard type of offering for investment properties. That’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

The Crescent Court, which has been for sale on and off for a couple of years, was also included in a November announcement that WestCoast was selling several properties, mostly hotels, including the Ridpath Hotel and Budget Inn in Spokane. Langenheim said potential buyers have shown interest in the properties but no sales have closed.

WestCoast is selling the 11 hotels and other properties with hopes of raising $40 million for renovations at its remaining hotels, which include the Red Lion River Inn and Hotel at the Park, as well as the Red Lion Templin’s Hotel on the River in Post Falls.

The company purchased the Crescent Court in 1993 for $1.4 million from creditors of the former Frederick & Nelson department store chain. The Crescent department store preceded Frederick & Nelson at the downtown location and was Spokane’s premier retailer for decades. However, when G&B bought the site in 1993, the building had been vacant since Frederick & Nelson went out of business in 1992.

The Crescent Court includes two buildings at 707 W. Main Ave. in downtown Spokane, according to the listing by CB Richard Ellis. The property includes the seven-story historic Crescent Building, developed in the early 1900s, and the Paterson Building, which was built in 1973.

Occupancy is listed at 81 percent and the property’s net operating income at just under $2 million.

When WestCoast, then Goodale and Barbieri Companies, purchased the property, it was vacant. However, the company remodeled it and leased most of the space to office and retail tenants. Office tenants include the Bonneville Power Administration and the Postal Service. Retail-level tenants include The Moose Lake Co., Scottrade and Weldon Barber.