Lee Fehrenbacher//February 24, 2014//
Fewer than 30 days since Langley Investment Properties opted to not purchase the former Blue Heron mill site for $4.9 million, a real estate investment company based in Irvine, Calif., has made an offer for slightly more than half that amount.
The bankruptcy trustee for the Blue Heron Paper Co. on Friday filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court-Oregon District to sell the 23-acre Willamette Falls property in Oregon City to The Shopoff Group for $2.8 million. The offer includes a $50,000 nonrefundable deposit (except in certain extenuating circumstances) and a commitment to close on the deal by June 16 – though Shopoff can extend that deadline by 30 days for $25,000 more.
At the end of January, Langley was set to begin making deposit payments of $30,000 per month while it evaluated whether to buy the property. The company would have paid $4.9 million if it closed on the purchase within 12 months. But before the clock started ticking in February, the firm decided to pull out altogether because of insufficient time to conduct initial due diligence.
After the Langley deal fell through, Peter McKittrick, the bankruptcy trustee, said he was evaluating other offers. However, he acknowledged that a property auction or even abandonment were possibilities.
“It was the highest offer and the best terms we had available to us,” McKittrick said of Shopoff’s proposal.
Representatives from The Shopoff Group could not be reached immediately for comment. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for April 4.
The unpaid property tax bill for the site is $455,000. Also, the Oregon Department of Energy holds a lien against the property for approximately $1.16 million, while Noble Americas Energy Solutions LLC holds a lien for approximately $4.23 million. McKittrick said he is negotiating with those parties now over potential financial recovery.
The ex-Blue Heron site is on the doorstep of Oregon’s largest waterfall (by volume). It also has endured more than 150 years of industrial use, and has 57 empty buildings in various conditions. A is under way to turn the site into a cultural and commercial hub.