Real estate brokerages Colliers International and Cardente Real Estate have issued a notice stating that the iconic office building, known for its 9-foot-high digital rooftop clock, will go up for auction on Oct. 9 with a minimum starting bid of $2.75 million. The auctioneer is Fisher Auction Co. of Pompano Beach, Florida.
The 14-story office tower at 477 Congress St., which opened in 1924 as the 12-story Chapman Building, was seized by a collections agency in 2016 following years of neglect and a mass exodus of tenants. Marketing material for the auction says the building is about one-third occupied.
The foreclosure placed the property in the hands of a Maryland-based “special servicer.” Special servicers are responsible for recovering assets on behalf of bondholders who purchased commercial mortgage-backed securities.
The building’s prior owner, a subsidiary of New York City-based Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates LLC, had been negotiating with the special servicer, CWCapital Asset Management of Bethesda, to reduce the loan’s $12 million principal.
Those negotiations broke down in April 2016, and CWCapital initiated foreclosure. CWCapital set up a limited liability company called 477-481 Congress Street Holdings LLC and granted it the right to collect leases and rents. Now, the company is selling the property.

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