Assessing Rossi's finances is difficult

By Susan Kelleher
Seattle Times staff reporter

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But Rossi's financial success is difficult to measure. A precise picture of his worth and income cannot be determined.

He has declined to make his federal income-tax returns available, saying he has met with The Seattle Times at length and disclosed all that is legally required. His opponent, Christine Gregoire, released her tax returns when The Seattle Times asked last week.

A look at his holdings shows he has owned or partly owned six properties in 19 years and currently has interest in three: his Sammamish home and a four-unit and a 31-unit apartment building.

Rossi reported that he makes more than $75,000 a year from his rental properties. His Senate disclosure statements for 2002 and 2003 state that he made more than $75,000 a year from Scott Real Estate Investments, but he said that was a mistake.

He said most of his income from real-estate sales while he held elected office from 1997 to 2003 came from commissions he earned buying and selling the handful of properties in which he has a financial interest and for referrals to another real-estate agent.

Rossi's real-estate holdings are worth from $2.9 million to $3.65 million, depending on how the value is calculated.

If the worth of his real estate is calculated primarily on the assessed value of his properties, his holdings, including his home, are worth $2.9 million. But Rossi said his holdings are worth $3.65 million, saying he would only sell some properties for prices higher than the assessed values.

Here are details on Rossi's commercial real-estate purchases:

• Eastlake fourplex, bought in July 1985 for $142,000 with $805 down, part of which Rossi said he charged to a credit card. He still owns the property.

• Magnolia triplex, bought in July 1989. He sold it four years later for $200,000 more than he paid.
 
• House in Issaquah, purchased in May 1991 for nothing down after the bank initiated a foreclosure on the owner. Rossi assumed the $204,000 loan and sold the property six years later for $90,000 more than he paid.

• Hartford Court Apartments, 31-unit building in Lake Stevens, purchased in December 1993 from developer Michael Mastro for $980,000. Mastro financed the purchase; Rossi still owns the building.

• Windsor Court Apartments, 63-unit building in Federal Way, purchased from developer Mastro in October 1997. Rossi and a group of investors that included two Olympia lobbyists paid $2.5 million for the building, in which Rossi had a 37.5 percent interest. Mastro also financed the transaction. The group sold the building 3-½ years later for $600,000 more than it paid.

• House in Sammamish, bought in December 1997 for $409,000. He still owns it.