Pacific Rim, which consisted of developer Bob Gerding and unnamed partners, acquired the building in 1990 after it had undergone foreclosure for a reported $12.7 million in debt, although Oregon Title Insurance Co. records list the sale price as $9.75 million. The group then invested more money and took out additional loans to renovate the building and add a four-story parking garage across the street. The partners put $2 million of equity into the ADP site.

The property was foreclosed on while in the hands of Beartree Buildings, a joint venture of Marty Treece and John Beardsley that developed the property in 1982 while interest rates were upwards of 20% and office space wasn't hard to come by. Most of the city's biggest office high-rise--the US Bancorp Tower, the Orbanco Building and Pacwest Center--opened to tenants between 1979 and 1984.

In 1984, Beartree were forced to hand the property back to the Seattle-First National Bank-led lender after defaulting on a $15-million loan. But after signing Automatic Data Processing (ADP) to a 67,000-sf lease, Beardsley and Treece bought the building back from the lenders for $14.67 million, according to title records.

The property went into receivership in July 1988 when the Seattle-First group filed a complaint in Multnomah County Circuit Court. At the time, ADP was tied up with the 74,000-sf GranTree Plaza and Beartree owed $30 million. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ultimately exercised an option to buy the five-story GranTree from Beartree, but the duo wasn't so lucky with ADP Plaza.

The Plaza is located on the southern outskirts of the central city, at 2525 S.W. First Ave. ADP is still the major tenant, occupying 67% of the building. Another large tenant is Oregon Health Sciences University, which is said to be looking for expansion space. The Bank of America recently vacated 24,000 sf of space in the building. Leasing agent Scott Madsen of Cushman & Wakefield tells GlobeSt.com he expects to close soon on a lease deal that will refill the space.

As an aside, ADP Plaza is what brought Bob Gerding and Mark Edlen together. The duo is now Gerding/Edlen Development, which recently purchased the five Blitz Weinhard Brewery blocks and now is engaged in a 1.8-million-sf redevelopment of the property.

During the very early 1990s, Edlen was a prolific broker for Cushman & Wakefield who had Bank of America as a client, and Gerding, as noted, was part of ADP's ownership group. They got acquainted during the negotiations that brought BofA in as a tenant. A few years later, when Pacific Gas Transmission Co. needed a new corporate headquarters, Edlen ended up serving as the leasing agent and Gerding was the developer. They officially became Gerding/Edlen Development in 1996.

Instant Insights /

Offshore Owner Has Buyer for ADP Plaza; Deal Estimated at $25 Mil

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