Rolf Boone of the Olympian reported this morning that Friday’s state-run liquor store auction generated nearly $31 million in bids, including more than $236,000 for a store in downtown Olympia and $750,000 – the highest individual bid – for a store in Tacoma.

The state Liquor Control Board announced the winners at a Monday morning press conference.

The winners were announced at the state-run liquor store in Lacey on Sleater-Kinney Road, across from Fred Meyer. The winning bidder for that store was Vijay K. Prasher, who paid $110,200, according to a list of names released by the board. Prasher was …

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Russell Investments’ parent company has sold Russell’s new headquarters building for more than four times what it paid.

Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual announced Friday that it has sold the Russell Investments Center in Seattle for $480 million. When it bought it in 2009, it paid about $115 million for the empty tower that once was the headquarters for Washington Mutual bank. WaMu failed in 2008.

Real estate firm CBRE, which brokered the deal for Northwestern, said it was the largest single-asset office sale in the western U.S. since 2006.

“There were 34 prospective buyer tours of the asset, which is highly …

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An array of dignitaries from Sen. Maria Cantwell to Hilltop Business District President Eric Crittendon, gathered under a rain-battered tent Wednesday to break ground for the first major commercial structure built in the business district in more than a decade.

They and dozens of health care workers, patients, politicians and civic leaders wielded shovels to mark the symbolic beginning of construction of the $26-million Hilltop Regional Health Center.

The three-story, 54,000-square-foot center will be part of Community Health Care’s network of clinics serving low-income and uninsured persons in Pierce County with health and dental care.

Cantwell called the new …

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The Foremost Dairy building, recently renovated by Seattle-based American Life Inc., has earned a LEED Gold certification, according to a news release this morning.

LEED is a voluntary and rigorous certification program that rates design, construction and operation of “green” buildings. According to the release from Freiheit & Ho Architects, the Foremost building, at 2415 Pacific Ave., “achieved LEED certification for efficiency in energy, lighting, water and material use, as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies.”

The Foremost building now houses Social Security offices on the second floor, with ground-floor retail space available.

The LEED certification is one …

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Freighthouse Square in downtown Tacoma’s Dome District will be the life of a (daytime, kid-friendly) party this Saturday. Think Legos, giant checkers and a scavenger hunt.

The first I CAN! Event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. According to a news release, activities will include:

• LEGO and DUPLO building areas
• Watercolor Painting with Lucy Schwartz
• Comedic Stage Magic with our Emcee, Just Sage
• Artistic Photography by Dayton Knipher
• Acoustic Music with Heidi Stoermer
• Creative Storytelling with Ryan Henry Ward
• Recycled Materials Art Projects with Suni Cook-Boucher
• Author Readings by NorthwestAuthors.org
• Northwest

…

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Electronics giant Best Buy said today it will close 50 of its big box electronics retail stores and shift to a business model emphasizing smaller stores selling cell phones, tablets and e-readers.

The company didn’t issue a list of stores intended for closure. Those closures are scheduled to happen before the end of the year. Best Buy will also trim its corporate staff by 400 positions. In the South Sound, Best Buy has big box stores in Tacoma, Federal Way, Puyallup, Tukwila, Lacey and Olympia.

Those moves and others are designed to save the company $800 million. That new …

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A letter last week was the official end of plans for a new apartment building and city-owned parking garage next door to McMenamins’ Elks Temple.

In a one-page letter dated March 21, Tacoma city manager T.C. Broadnax informed Rick Moses, Grace Pleasants that the development agreement struck in 2009 is dissolved. That agreement was the official reflection of the three-party deal Pleasants and Moses brokered that brought Portland-based brewpub McMenamins to town.

“The City appreciates your efforts in trying to make this tri-party Project work even in challenging economic times,” Broadnax wrote.

Lest we all get confused, McMenamins has maintained …

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Big liquor retailer BevMo is heading to Washington in the wake of a voters’ decision last fall to end the state’s monopoly on liquor sales.

The California-based liquor retailer is among dozens of retailers ranging from supermarkets such as Safeway and Top Food & Drug to drug stores such as Bartell to discount stores such as Costco, Walmart and Target, that have made plans to sell liquor when the state allows it June 1.

BevMo’s first two stores are scheduled to open in Tacoma and Silverdale in mid-summer, said BevMo chief executive, Alan Johnson.

“We’ll open sooner if we …

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