Thursday, February 18, 2010, 2:30pm PST | Modified: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 2:57pm
Developer Opus Northwest up for sale
Portland Business Journal
Opus Northwest, one of Portland’s best known development firms, is up for sale.
The operating company, which has a Portland presence, is one of five units of Minnesota-based Opus Corp., which has struggled with layoffs and restructuring over the past year. Three of the five units — Opus South, Opus East and Opus West — filed for bankruptcy last year and are winding down their operations, along with parent Opus Corp. Last August, the firm’s property management business was sold to Indiana-based NorthMarq Real Estate Services.
The remaining unit, Opus North, was sold for an undisclosed sum to an entity owned by the Rauenhorst family, which owns Opus Corp.
Before the downturn, Opus Northwest made headlines for co-developing Tigard’s popular Bridgeport Village, which is sold immediately after completing construction. More recently it completed construction of two downtown-area apartment projects, Ladd Tower and Park 19. It owns and operates both buildings.
Opus made headlines in 2005 when the Portland Development Commission selected it to develop a mix of office, retail and residential projects on the east side of the Burnside Bridge. The PDC selected the deep-pocketed developer over a popular local developer, Beam Development, in a decision that angered area residents. When Opus couldn’t get an anchor tenant to commit to the $260 million project, it languished and the development agreement lapsed in 2008. The PDC subsequently enlisted Beam to help it restart the project.
Opus’s local staff has dwindled in recent months. Brian Owendoff, vice president and general manager, resigned in January to take a new job helming the Portland office of CB Richard Ellis, a real estate brokerage. Numerous staff have been laid off or left for new positions.
Opus Northwest has hired Chicago-based financial advisor MorrisAnderson & Assoc. to help it “explore options for recapitalizing,” the company said in a statement. Options include a capital infusion, a joint venture or the sale of certain assets, the company said.
Based in Minnetonka, Minn., Opus Northwest also has regional offices in Bellevue, Wash., Denver, Kansas City and St. Louis. The company has about 180 employees and generated more than $270 million in sales last year.
Opus Northwest started more than $200 million in fee-based construction works in 2009 and has signed more than $175 million in third-party construction contracts this year.
Purchasing Opus Northwest would give the buyer a quick entry into several Northwest markets and potentially some real estate holdings and in-the-works projects, including the two Portland apartment buildings. But the purchase could also entangle a potential investor or buyer in the ongoing legal disputes involving Opus Corp. and the Rauenhorst family.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland...u&ed=2010-02-18&ana=e_du_pub&t=printable
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