Harbor Side apartments sold to new owner

The Harbor Side apartment complex was recently sold to a new owner, who purchased the property for approximately $3.5 million.

Located at 1440 and 1480 Peace Portal Drive in Blaine, the apartment complex was previously owned by the Craig McLaughlin Family Trust. According to county records, the new owner is Harbor Side LP, a Washington limited partnership.

The selling price was $3.52 million which resulted in excise tax payable of $62,545. The state share of excise tax is $44,973, while the local share of excise tax is $17,568.

Hugh Wiebe, the owner of Harbor Side LP, said he decided to purchase the property because he wanted to invest in Blaine and expand his local business presence. “I’ve had my eye on the property for a number of years,” he said. “I was looking for some income-producing property and I wanted to do it here in Blaine.”

Wiebe owns a Blaine-based business, Creation Foods, which produces snack products, cheese snacks and breakfast cereals. Wiebe has been involved with Creation Foods for about 10 years. He also owns A-Z Storage in Blaine.

“Hugh wanted something close for the sake of ease of management,” said Robert Parmar of Summerfield Commercial, a broker who assisted Wiebe with the transaction. “It’s a stone’s throw away from his company.”

Parmar said that the Harbor Side apartments were not listed on the market. However, they were on Wiebe’s radar, since he had previously bid on them when they last came up for sale several years ago. According to county records, the property last came up for sale in 2014, when the Craig McLaughlin Family Trust bought the property from Slotman Enterprises Inc. for a sale price of $3,184,000.

Parmar said that he contacted representatives of the Craig McLaughlin Family Trust and made an unsolicited offer based on Wiebe’s instructions. “The seller and his wife made a counterproposal, and after some back and forth, we ended up doing the transaction,” said Parmar.

Parmar said that Wiebe paid market price for the apartment complex, and plans to hold onto it for many years to come. “Hugh sees himself owning the building for a very long time,” said Parmar, who noted that the rental market in Blaine is surprisingly tight. “Rental activity in Blaine seems to be fairly good” for landlords, he said.