Owners of Columbia Center face default

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011431935_columbia25.html?prmid=obnetwork


The owner of the Northwest's tallest building, the 76-story Columbia Center, missed a mortgage payment this month, providing fresh evidence of the troubles facing downtown Seattle office landlords. Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners failed to make a scheduled payment of $1.65 million on a $380 million loan it took out when it bought the tower three years ago, according to a recent report by Wells Fargo Bank, which administers the debt. The loan faces "imminent default due to cash flow issues,"says a note in the report.

A spokesman for Beacon, the Seattle area's largest office landlord, declined comment. The 1.5-million-square-foot Columbia Center appears to have been especially hard-hit by the recession, which has pushed rents down and vacancies up all over downtown.(more)