Unreachable new owner complicates debt collection for work at Tacoma Town Center site
A contractor who worked on the stalled Tacoma Town Center project recently won a default order in its debt-collection lawsuit.
Whether anyone will ever pay up is another matter.
Northwest Cascade, a Puyallup-based general contractor, in September received a sought-after order of default against Kurtin Properties, which has yet to make an appearance in the case, including through an attorney.
Kurtin, a San Diego-based real-estate entity, was added to the collection case following the discovery earlier this year by Northwest Cascade's attorneys that Tacoma Town Center Parcels LLC had conveyed property tied to the case to Kurtin.
Northwest Cascade attorney Michael Murphy wrote in June that despite "diligent effort, NWC's process server (ABC Legal) has not been able to gain access to the gated community where Kurtin's principal place of business and registered agent are located."
"NWC believes that the transfer to Kurtin was intended to impair or at least delay the lien foreclosure process," he wrote.
Kurtin was served notice via U.S. mail and publication, according to the court filings.
A lack of response from the defendant earned an order of default issued Sept. 16, which comes when a defendant fails to respond to a lawsuit by deadline.
It clears the way for a judge to sign final orders and hold hearings without notice to Kurtin.
According to filings, Northwest Cascade is seeking to collect payment on utility work performed September 2022 that included installing a "stormwater pond overflow structure located on TTCP's property at 2112 Jefferson Ave. S. in Tacoma and piping to connect that overflow structure to the City stormwater system in Jefferson Avenue."
The company seeks to collect more than $200,000
Murphy did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. There remains no attorney on file representing Kurtin Properties. Attorneys for Tacoma Town Center Parcels LLC withdrew from the case in January, before the "deed transfer in lieu of foreclosure" to Kurtin on the parcel in February.
Of the seven remaining undeveloped parcels, Kurtin is tied to just the one at 2112 Jefferson Ave. S. According to county tax records, the taxpayer on file for the other properties is Tacoma Town Center Parcels LLC, with a Bellevue office address also shared by original developer North America Asset Management (NAAM).
The Kurtin property shows property taxes owed going back to 2022 of more than $190,000. The county places a three-year limit before pursuing tax foreclosure by filing a Certificate of Delinquency on a delinquent parcel with Pierce County Superior Court.
The other six vacant parcels also show back taxes owed since 2022 — a total of nearly $270,000. There are also sewer and landscaping liens on the six non-Kurtin properties, and a landscaping lien on the Kurtin property in addition to Northwest Cascade's lien.
Timeline of spiral
Tacoma Town Center Parcels LLC was affiliated with Boise-based Galena Equity Partners, and took on the project in spring 2021 to continue after NAAM was unable to generate sufficient financing, including EB-5 investment.
The 6.4-acre Tacoma property, bordered by South 21st to South 23rd streets and from Jefferson to Tacoma avenues, has just one building completed by its original developer at the planned six-building campus.
The plan at the time was for NAAM to retain ownership of its "Building 2" (Jefferson Yards) and convey the remaining undeveloped property to a subsidiary LLC — Tacoma Town Center Parcels. TTC then would assign its interest to one or more LLCs created and controlled by Galena Equity Partners.
NAAM later sued Galena for breach of contract in King County Superior Court and was awarded more than $10 million in January this year from Galena.
Galena attorneys wrote in a Sept. 18, 2023, filing, "The transactions contemplated in the underlying agreements required defendants to obtain investment funds through third parties, which did not occur."
Tacoma Town Center Parcels LLC received "administrative dissolution" from the state in May 2024 after not filing its annual report, due in December.
Galena also faces legal woes in Idaho. A website that tracks development news in the Boise area reported earlier this year that Galena has essentially disappeared from a project it's been involved in there, and also reported that Galena had been evicted from its Boise offices amid unpaid rent.
