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University Plaza sold; building to be turned into apartments, retail space

By J. Martin McOmber
Seattle Times business reporter

	JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES The 38-year-old University Plaza Hotel will shut its doors this month, a victim of low occupancy and high taxes.
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Goodman bought the property last week for $5.3 million. The hotel on Northeast 45th Street just west of Interstate 5 has been a fixture in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood for nearly four decades.

Owner Armen Yousoufian said the 135-room hotel, which has stopped taking new guests, will close for good by the middle of the month after wrapping up a few scheduled banquet events.

Yousoufian told the hotel's 25-member staff last week about the sale.

"It was one of the worst days of my business career to have to deliver such news to my employees in the midst of an abysmal job market," he said.

The civic crusader, who has waged a legal battle with King County and state officials over the decision to destroy the Kingdome and replace it with a football stadium, blamed the poor economy, low occupancy rates and rising taxes and fees for putting him out of business.

Goodman is founder and chairman of Seattle's Pinnacle Realty, which manages more than 100,000 apartments across the county and nearly 16.7 million square feet of commercial property. His company, Goodman Real Estate, bought the hotel.

Goodman did not return a call yesterday. But Yousoufian said Goodman plans to convert rooms on the building's second and third floors into apartments. The ground floor will be expanded and converted into space for stores and offices.

The deal reunited two men who got their start in real estate at the same company in the early 1970s. They both worked for West & Wheeler, Goodman in the apartment-management arm and Yousoufian in the apartment-brokerage business.

When Goodman approached Yousoufian six months ago, it was the first time the two men had met in nearly 30 years.

The hotel, which opened 38 years ago, proved to be a tough business. It changed hands five times and declared bankruptcy three times Yousoufian said, before he bought the hotel in 1986.

Yousoufian said it has been a struggle to keep going following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sales at the hotel fell by more than half and did not recover. He laid off most of the hotel's 65 employees in the past two years and closed its restaurant and bar in December.

Meanwhile, the cost of electricity, licenses and payroll taxes grew, he said.

Yousoufian also blamed the new baseball and football stadiums, saying they have failed to draw the out-of-town crowds to Seattle that the Kingdome had.

J. Martin McOmber: 206-464-2022 or mmcomber@seattletimes.com

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