PORT TOWNSEND — The historic Clam Cannery building on the Quincy Street waterfront has been sold for almost $1.3 million to a Texas couple who formerly hail from the United Kingdom.
The sale of the two-story brick structure closed Wednesday, leaving Neil and Diane Wheatley the new owners, said Teren MacLeod, RE/MAX First primary agent who shared the listing with RE/MAX owner Charlie Arthur.
“We are very pleased that the Cannery has begun a new chapter and look forward to seeing the property and the new owners thrive in their new community,” MacLeod said.
The 6,482-square-foot Cannery, which dates back to 1873, and was placed on the market in September and sold the day after Thanksgiving, MacLeod said.
Columbia Bank — which in August foreclosed on the property formerly owned by Port Townsend businessman Kevin Harris, who stylishly remodeled the building’s interior — was the seller.
Harris tried to develop the property for condominiums and later a hotel and once proposed the creation of a floating dock near the Cannery so visitors could be flown in by seaplanes to be moored there.
He also proposed renovating the dilapidated, old Quincy Dock, owned by the Port of Port Townsend.
The new owners, in an email forwarded to the Peninsula Daily News by MacLeod, said they were now moving into the building’s second floor and had no plans yet for the remodeled first floor.
“We have no plans to open up as a hotel or bed and breakfast,” the Wheatleys wrote.
“For the moment, the Cannery will be our personal residence upstairs.
“We hope to open up the space downstairs for use by the community for meetings, events and workshops,” they said.
They added that “if our neighbors have any ideas, then feel free to stop us on the street for a chat — we can be seen walking every day with Eric, our great Dane.”
The property is zoned for commercial uses on the first floor and MacLeod said she and Arthur recommended it first and foremost as meeting space, although it could be used for an art gallery or retail shop.
MacLeod said there were three or four potential buyers. The Wheatleys accepting the asking price.
The Wheatleys come from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and have dual citizenship for the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Our first visit to [Port Townsend] was in 2009 while on a road trip along the West Coast in search of a new place to call home,” the Wheatleys wrote.
“We saw many towns and many homes in the following couple of years, but Port Townsend was calling us back.”
They said within two hours of arriving in Port Townsend they decided to make an offer on the Cannery.
Harris tried to find investors before the scheduled foreclosure sale so the hotel could continue to operate.
However, he was unable to meet a July 13 deadline set by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court to provide “a firm commitment by an investor to make a cash investment in the property in an amount sufficient to pay the secured claim of Columbia [$1.39 million] in full.”
While the bank claims Harris owes it more money, the $1.39 million figure is based on the appraised value of the property.
American Marine Bank, which became Columbia Bank, first loaned $990,000 for refurbishment as office space for Harris’ software business in 2002.
Following what the bank calls “so many significant delays and difficulties,” a whole new loan was required in 2007 for $1,845,000, then modified six times to extend the due date.
By April 2009, “the property still had not been completed and, with the national financial collapse in the fall of 2008, it was clear that if the property were developed as condominiums, they would not sell or, if they did, they would not sell at a price sufficient to retire the bank debt,” according to bankruptcy court documents.
The bank claimed a total of $2.7 million was owed, including interest, late charges and fees.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
