July 26, 2022

Oxford buys vacant Arctic Club Hotel for $30M

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

Juno closed, like the hotel, during the pandemic; the piroshki shop remains open.

Vacant since the pandemic struck, the landmarked Arctic Club Hotel building, at 700 Third Ave., went into foreclosure last year, as the DJC first reported. An investor group had acquired the corner property in 2005 for $5.1 million. It was at that time a city-owned office building; the new owners then undertook a costly conversion into a 120-room hotel, with restaurant space below.

Now it's been sold by a court-appointed receiver to The Arctic Club Hotel LLC, associated with Oxford Suites and its corporate parent, which are based in Bend, Oregon.

The nominal $31 million sales price included a personal property deduction yielding an over $30.3 million figure. That works out to around $252,667 per room. Using county figures, about $380 per square foot is possible, though the vacant Juno restaurant space and Piroshki on 3rd may not be included.

Oxford is a West Coast chain, with five current locations in our state: Bellingham, Silverdale, Yakima and two properties in the Spokane area. Oxford is led by Curt Baney, an industry veteran.

The new owner is now hiring a general manager for the Arctic Club Hotel. No reopening date is mentioned. The recent sale was accompanied with a lease termination clause with the old hotel manager.

The DJC was unable to reach Baney for comment before deadline.

DoubleTree, a Hilton brand, had been the last operator of the Arctic Club. The 10-story building, with its famous Arctic Club on Cherry, began life as an office building circa 1916. The 2006 hotel conversion effort was led by architect Stephen Day, with Madrona Architecture and Weaver Architects. Turner was the contractor. Candra Scott & Anderson of San Francisco did the interiors.

Day and other investors led by Rob Brewster exited the ownership several years ago.