NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Friday, August 23, 2019
Bend investors bid on The Bulletin real estate
By KATHLEEN
MCLAUGHLIN
Bend Bulletin
BEND — A Bend real
estate investor bid $13.25
million to buy out of bank-
ruptcy The Bulletin‘s head-
quarters — property near
Oregon State Universi-
ty-Cascades that includes
2.5 acres of vacant land with
development potential.
Next
Development
Group, led by Bradley Kent,
would pay cash for the
property, according to an
asset purchase agreement
filed in bankruptcy court
Wednesday.
Prior to filing for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection in
January, The Bulletin‘s par-
ent company, Western Com-
munications, had listed its
office building and printing
plant on Chandler Avenue
for $20 million. It was one of
the highest-priced real estate
listings in Bend in February
2017.
Completed in 2000, the
86,394-square-foot build-
ing sits on close to 10 acres.
It’s in a mixed-use urban
zone, which allows for dense
development with a variety
of commercial and residen-
tial uses.
Western
Communica-
tions hired real estate bro-
kers in Portland and Bend
in April, and their combined
Bend Bulletin Photo, File
A Bend real estate investor bid $13.25 million to buy out of bankruptcy the Bend Bulletin’s
headquarters — property near Oregon State University-Cascades that includes 2.5 acres of
vacant land with development potential.
sequent bidding would go
up in $100,000 increments,
according to the agreement.
As the stalking horse bid-
der, Next Development could
earn a $300,000 breakup
fee — if it’s approved by
the bankruptcy court — in
the event that it’s outbid.
Competitors would have to
provide cash to cover the
breakup fee in addition to a
deposit and 10% of the pur-
chase price.
Because of debt tied to the
building, Western Commu-
nications owed about $19.1
million to its main creditor,
Sandton Credit Solutions
Master Fund III, LP. Sand-
ton’s claim is down to about
$16 million since Western
databases reached 2,000
potential buyers, according
to a motion filed Wednesday.
The brokers, CBRE and
Compass Commercial Real
Estate Services, had con-
tact with 75 potential buy-
ers and provided confidenti-
ality agreements and access
to due diligence documents
to 39.
The deadline for com-
peting bids would be
5 p.m., Oct. 15, according
to the motion. An auction, if
needed, would be held Oct.
18 in the offices of Tonkon
Torp LLP.
The next high bidder
would have to exceed Next
Development’s offer by at
least $400,000, and sub-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
Sunshine, breezy
and pleasant
Nice with plenty of
sunshine
Pleasant with
plenty of sun
Very warm with
plenty of sun
86° 62°
85° 56°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
81° 51°
89° 56°
84° 56°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
89° 64°
88° 59°
85° 52°
92° 55°
87° 54°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
69/57
82/55
86/58
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
87/66
Lewiston
76/52
89/62
Astoria
69/55
Pullman
Yakima 87/62
75/50
89/64
Portland
Hermiston
80/55
The Dalles 89/64
Salem
Corvallis
83/48
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
85/55
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
85/49
86/51
87/57
Ontario
90/57
Caldwell
Burns
82°
61°
86°
56°
103° (1946) 41° (1960)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
83/50
Trace
0.05"
0.14"
4.61"
5.13"
6.06"
WINDS (in mph)
87/56
86/45
0.02"
0.12"
0.30"
9.73"
6.49"
8.25"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 82/51
83/51
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
86/62
88/61
80°
59°
86°
56°
103° (1897) 37° (1904)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
74/52
Aberdeen
82/60
85/64
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
73/57
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
95/58
Sat.
SW 4-8
WNW 4-8
WSW 8-16
W 10-20
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
88/49
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Last
6:05 a.m.
7:50 p.m.
11:56 p.m.
2:09 p.m.
New
First
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
Aug 23
Aug 30
Sep 5
Sep 13
State’s disclosure
database shows
Brown has
$920,000 in her
campaign fund
By JEFF MAPES
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown, who continues
to raise money for her cam-
paign fund even though she
can’t run for re-election, is
now tapping donors from the
business community.
Since the start of the
month, Brown has raised
more than $120,000 in busi-
ness-related
contributions,
including from several firms
that do business with the state
of Oregon. Campaign Bol-
sonaro vvs have up to 30 days
to publicly disclose contribu-
tions, so her fundraising totals
this month could be higher.
Thomas Wheatley, a polit-
ical consultant who handles
the governor’s fundraising,
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
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Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group
70s
80s
90s
Finalists named for vacant
seat on appeals court
Merkley, along with Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Hood River, appointed a bipartisan
committee of attorneys who narrowed
down the pool of candidates to four.
The finalists are vying to fill the shoes
of Diarmuid O’Scannlain, who assumed
senior status in September 2016, a version
of semi-retirement for federal judges.
President Donald Trump had initially
nominated conservative federal prose-
cutor Ryan Bounds to fill O’Scannlain’s
vacancy, despite vocal opposition from
both of Oregon’s senators. They called
him an “unqualified nominee” after writ-
ing from his college days surfaced, reveal-
ing inflammatory views on gay rights,
race and university responses to sexual
assault.
— Oregon Public Broadcasting
CORRECTION: In the Page A3 story “Brown won’t make it to Round-Up this
year,” published Thursday, Aug. 23, the story misstated how many times Sen. Jeff
Merkley has attended the Pendleton Round-Up. This will be his third year attending.
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If
you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
Subscriber services:
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or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1
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52 weeks
26 weeks
13 weeks
hler last November, Brown
put on a continued fundrais-
ing push in the months before
the legislative session started
in mid-January. She collected
about $500,000 in that period.
And she stepped up her fund-
raising again following the
session’s end on June 30.
Her major target in recent
weeks has been the business
community, much of which
has had major differences
with her. Many business
donors openly supported Bue-
hler. And Brown’s support for
a climate bill and a new tax
on business sales also drew
opposition in many corners of
the business community.
But several lobbyists and
consultants noted that many
companies have good reasons
for donating to the governor
when she asks.
“The lobby has got to deal
with her for a couple more ses-
sions,” veteran business lob-
byist Len Bergstein said, add-
ing that Brown also continues
to maintain warm relations
with many business leaders.
BRIEFLY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
refused to
discuss any
of the con-
t r ibut ion s.
But he said
in an email
that Brown
Brown
is
raising
the money to “communicate
directly with the public, to
support her priorities and to
support candidates who share
her values.”
Among other things,
Brown is backing two mea-
sures that the Legislature
referred to the November
2020 ballot. One seeks to
remove constitutional pro-
hibitions against limiting
the size of campaign finance
donations and the other
would raise tobacco taxes for
health care.
Brown has repeatedly said
that while she would like to
get big money out of politics,
she won’t unilaterally stop
taking big donations until the
rules are changed.
After defeating Republi-
can challenger Knute Bue-
SALEM — The White House is con-
sidering four finalists to fill the vacant
Oregon seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals.
Oregon Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley
and Ron Wyden forwarded the names of
four applicants to the White House Mon-
day: Bruce Campbell, a partner at Port-
land-based law firm Miller Nash Graham
& Dunn; James Egan, chief judge with the
Oregon Court of Appeals; Danielle Hun-
saker, a presiding judge with the Wash-
ington County Circuit Court; and Erin
Lagesen, a presiding judge with the Ore-
gon Court of Appeals.
To arrive at these jurists, Wyden and
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
serve the going concern
value of those newspapers,”
Kennedy said during a hear-
ing Monday in Portland.
“Had this not been filed, and
had all of the expenses not
been incurred, those news-
papers would’ve closed
down.”
Summers argued that the
professional fees should be
paid from the sale of the real
estate, which could close
at the end of October if no
other bidders come forward.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Trish Brown agreed to allow
$300,000 from the news-
papers’ sale to be held in
escrow. “That gives you
incentive to keep going —
right?” she said.
The
building’s
sale
includes a two-year lease
with EO Media Group,
though that can be termi-
nated early with 180 days’
notice, according to the
agreement. EO Media has
until the end of November
to move the printing press
out of the Chandler Avenue
building.
Heidi Wright, chief oper-
ating officer of EO Media,
has said The Bulletin‘s press
will be marketed for sale.
The company has already
arranged to shift printing to
a press owned by Pamplin
Media in Prineville. Wright
will become publisher of
The Bulletin on Sept. 1.
Brown reaps $120K fundraising
haul from business donors
Full
NATIONAL EXTREMES
High 111° in Imperial, Calif. Low 31° in Angel Fire, N.M.
Communications sold five
other newspapers in Cali-
fornia and Oregon plus other
real estate, said Tony Sum-
mers, an attorney at Lane
Powell PC in Portland who
represents Sandton.
Several other associates
of Western Communica-
tions also have liens on the
real estate. They are Mal-
lory Jean McCool, Anna
Jane Stevens, Western Com-
munications Chairwoman
Elizabeth C. McCool, Alex
Leigh McCool, Margaret C.
and Gregory F. Cushman,
Mary Jean Chandler, Jef-
frey C. Cushman, John A.
Costa and Denise B. Costa,
according to the motion.
Those creditors loaned
money to Western Commu-
nications before the bank-
ruptcy filing, Tonkon Torp
attorney Michael Fletcher
said. Selling the real estate
would repay them and
property tax collectors in
Deschutes and other coun-
ties, he said.
With EO Media Group of
Salem expected to complete
its purchase of The Bulletin
and Redmond Spokesman
Aug. 30, Sandton would gain
another $2.3 million. EO
Media is buying the news-
paper business, not the real
estate.
Although EO Media
Group bid $3.65 million for
the papers, more than $1 mil-
lion of that will go to various
parties, including the firm
that brokered the newspa-
per sale, Deschutes County
for personal property taxes
on The Bulletin‘s printing
press, and the newspapers’
employees and vendors.
Rhode Island Suburban
Newspapers, which was the
first bidder for the newspa-
pers, will receive a $67,500
breakup fee.
Western
Communica-
tions’ attorney Al Kennedy
of Tonkon Torp argued to
keep an additional $570,000
in escrow to pay lawyers and
other professionals for their
work so far.
“This entire Chapter 11
has been necessary to pre-
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