As published in The San Diego Daily Transcript, August 22, 2007

Coldwell Banker Commercial (CBC) has announced the record high, $43 million winning bid at a federal bankruptcy auction, of the leasehold of the Queen’s Seaport site in Long Beach, CA. The buyer, “Save the Queen,” is a group of investors which plans to operate the historic Queen Mary ocean liner on the site and redevelop the surrounding oceanfront property. The former leaseholder of the ship and the property, Queen's Seaport Development Inc. (QSDI), declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years ago. The winning bidder must close escrow within 45 days of the auction date to complete the sale.

Coldwell Banker Commercial was exclusively engaged by Howard Ehrenberg, trustee for the bankruptcy estate of QSDI, to successfully arrange the sale of the leasehold. The Coldwell Banker Commercial team was led by Tom Olson of CBC Almar Real Estate Group and included Alan Scott, CCIM, of CBC Almar Group, John McKeown of Coldwell Banker Commercial R.E.A.G. and Dan Richards of Coldwell Banker Commercial Inland Empire.

The sprawling bay front property includes 43.38 acres of land and 32.31 acres of water rights and the fabled, 72-year-old Queen Mary ocean liner, which today is a hotel and tourist attraction drawing 1.2 million visitors every year. The winning bidder for the leasehold receives the 54-year lease with the potential for extension and rights to develop 75.69 acres of land and water rights near the ship. In addition to the ocean liner, the site is currently occupied by parking lots, The Queen’s Marketplace retail center, containers, oil pumpers, a cruise terminal and a geodesic dome that once housed Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose airplane.

“We launched an aggressive, international marketing campaign that garnered worldwide interest in acquiring the property, despite its problematic aspects, and were able to successfully attract bids from highly qualified developers,” said Olson. The two final bidders were Save the Queen and O&S Holdings, LLC, which develops mixed-use retail and entertainment complexes and was the “stalking horse” bidder, having submitted a non-contingent bid of $41 million for the property. The auction was concluded promptly, when O&S declared it had no interest in placing an overbid.

“The Coldwell Banker Commercial team is comprised of true professionals, and they did a terrific job in marketing a most challenging property.  The judge was clearly impressed by the breadth of CBC’s efforts,” said Ehrenberg, who organized the auction and acted as auctioneer.

About Coldwell Banker Commercial - Almar Real Estate Group High-performing CBC Almar Group has been named Coldwell Banker Commercial’s “Number One” affiliate in the nation for the last six consecutive years and is ranked in the Top Ten commercial real estate companies in California’s booming San Diego County. Co-founded in 1999 by Alan Scott, CCIM, R. Marty Smith, SIOR, and Allen Nunez, CBC Almar Group has successfully completed more than $3 billion in sales and lease transactions to date. The firm’s outstanding performance continues to win industry honors, including the San Diego County Commercial Realtors Association’s Transaction of the Year for Investment sales in 2005; for Land Sales in 2006; and Coldwell Banker Commercial’s 2005 Spring Arcade Award. CBC Almar Group is based in Carlsbad, with offices in La Jolla and Temecula. For more information, visit www.almargroup.com and www.coldwellbankercommercial.com