For more than 100 years, the Tochterman family owned theproperty, which was originally part of a 15-acre farm. In the1950s, seven acres were sold to accommodate the building of I-405.In 1999, the Tochtermans sold the land under the Meydenbauer Centerto the City of Bellevue for $7.8 million plus land for an expansionof the center at $1.5 million.

In recent years, the family had taken a run at a majordevelopment with New York City-based Palladium Co., but the projectwas never brought to fruition. Connie Grant, a member of the familyas well as the chair of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, said thedecision to sell the property to Schnitzer was in part due to thefact that Schnitzer's "goals and objectives for the property wereso closely aligned" with Tochterman's. Schnitzer Northwest is apartnership with Portland-based Schnitzer Investment Group.

Grant and other sources revealed that Schnitzer plans to build a1.5-million-sf complex, with a 500 to 600-room hotel and two officetowers with a combined 1M sf of office space. Grant declined todivulge the price paid for the property, stating that she wascontractually prohibited from releasing that information. The realestate community, however, is speculating that the price is between$28 million and $34 million.