On-line travel company Expedia Inc. announced today it will close its Tacoma call center office by the end of the year.

The company plans to transfer some of the work the Tacoma office performed to an expanded call center in Las Vegas.

The company said an unspecified number of workers in Tacoma will be offered jobs in Expedia's Bellevue headquarters or in the Las Vegas call center.

The company didn't say specifically why it is closing the Tacoma operation, one of four call centers it maintains around the country.

It did issue a general explanation: "In making the decision to grow the Las Vegas location and close the Tacoma location, Expedia concluded that these geographic changes in its call center footprint would enable the company to most effectively serve its customers and address its evolving business needs."

"Expedia is providing support to any employees transitioning out of the company," the company said in a press release.

Tacoma's first large-scale condominium auction Saturday yielded substantial bargains for the buyers of 17 units at downtown Tacoma's Marcato condominiums.

For instance, a two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,210-square-foot unit with two inside parking places sold at auction for $180,000, just 46.3 percent of its original offering price of $388,900. That's a $208,900 discount.

A third-floor unit with two bedrooms and two baths brought $195,000 in the auction, a drop of $210,900 from the asking price of $405,900.

The units, which ranged from a single bedroom, 620-square-foot unit to a 1,228-square-foot unit with two bedrooms and an den, sold for an average of 55.2 percent of the units' original offering price.

The 70-minute auction at downtown's Hotel Murano, yielded $3,365,000 in sales for Marcato developer Vision One LLC. The original asking prices for those units was a total of $6,096,862.

"We had almost 700 groups through in the month leading up to the auction," said Koket Fowler, project manager for TeamBuilder Auction Group. "We knew all the units would sell because of the large amount of interest, the quality of the community and the great values," she said.

Sixty-eight pre-registered and pre-qualified buyers attended the auction.

In general, one-bedroom units sold for a higher percentage of their original asking price then did the larger, two-bedroom units.

The smallest unit in the auction, 620-square-foot unit with one bedroom and one bath on the building's second floor sold for $160,000. That's 69.6 percent of the $229,900 offering price before the auction.

Developer Robert Hebert said he was pleased that buyers realized some bargains. Though the prices were substantially less than the original asking prices, he said, the auction brought a quick finish to what had been the glacial pace of sales since the recession struck.

While each building is different, the Marcato auction may give other developers who are holding onto large unsold inventories of condo units in Tacoma an idea of what the market will bear in the future.

Several major buildings are seeing condo sales moving so slowly that they'll be years filling. A large waterfront building on the Thea Foss Waterway, the Esplanade has nearly 150 vacant units.

The bank that foreclosed on that property has yet to disclose how it intends to sell the remaining units.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber will celebrate 125 years of work at its annual meeting luncheon next week.

The keynote speaker at the Oct. 20 event will be Glen Hiemstra, a Kirkland-based author and consultant who calls himself a "futurist." According to his Web site, Hiemstra focuses on "emerging trends in science, technology, economics, demographics, energy, the environment, and transportation" to "discuss the opportunities that we all have to shape the preferred future."

Hiemstra is the author of "Turning the Future into Revenue: What Businesses and Individuals Need to Know to Shape Their Futures."

According to a chamber news release, other parts of the Chamber's 125th anniversary celebration will include the unveiling of the historical song, "We like Tacoma," and archival film footage of a Chamber trip to Alaska in 1936.

The luncheon will be at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, 1500 Broadway, in the Grand Ballroom on the third floor, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Registration is from 11:30-noon.

Tacoma's LeMay Automobile Museum has added two new members to its board of directors.

The auto museum's board named Moray Callum, executive director of Ford America Design and Richard Davis, president and chief executive of Standard Parts Corp. as board members at its September meeting, the museum announced this week.

David Madeira, president and chief executive of the museum, said the two men's appointment shows continued momentum in the museum's development despite the recession.

"We are honored to have them both on the board as we continue the drive for America's Car Museum," he said.

LeMay is at the end of a fund drive to raise funds to build a museum building near the Tacoma Dome to house the LeMay Collection, the world's largest privately held auto collection.

Russell Investments is leasing about 215,000 square feet in its new Seattle home, according to a Seattle Times report today.

That's about 10,000 square feet less than the space the firm currently uses at its headquarters at 909 A St. in Tacoma. A report from Colliers International for the third quarter of 2009 put the available office space at 909 A St. at 224,000 square feet.

The Times' Eric Pryne reported this morning on leasing at the WaMu Center -- the building Russell's parent company Northwestern Mutual bought last month for $115 million.

Pryne's report focused on how rents in the WaMu Center compare to historic prices for downtown Seattle office space. But TNT readers might be more interested to learn what the recent listings for space in the building at 1301 Second Ave. reveal about Russell's future.

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The Tacoma City Council Tuesday night delayed indefinitely consideration of an environmental indemnification agreement for a proposed hotel on downtown Tacoma's Foss Waterway.

That delay will allow developer Hollander Investments and the site owner, Robert Thurston of Seattle, time to study their options for dealing with the issue.

Hollander and Thurston may bypass the council by simply transferring the existing environmental agreement from Thurston to Hollander.

The council delayed ratification of the new agreement several weeks ago because some council members were concerned that the Hollander design wasn't matching their vision of a boutique hotel on the waterfront site.

Other issues delaying the otherwise routine approval of the agreement were allegations that Hollander failed to live up to verbal agreements to remain neutral in a union election and to set aside rooms for convention business at its Marriott Courtyard Tacoma. Hollander denied it had violated any unwritten agreements.

If Hollander and Thurston determine they don't need the city's approval for the environmental agreement, Hollander would buy the hotel site between the Esplanade Condominiums and Thea's Landing and begin immediate planning to proceed with construction.

The construction must begin by March in order for it to meet shoreline permit expiration dates.

The hotel developer could be stymied in that effort if the city was slow to move on construction permit approvals for the project.

The developers of a proposed Marriott hotel on downtown Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway may bypass the Tacoma City Council in an effort to get a timely start on the new hotel.

Mark Hollander of Hollander Investments asked the council today to remove consideration of an environmental indemnity agreement for the hotel from tonight's council agenda.

The council has balked at approving that relatively routine environmental liability agreement because some members are unhappy with the design of the new hotel.

Hollander told the city he and the present owners of the hotel site need more time to study their options for further development.

A group led by Seattle hotelier Robert Thurston now owns the property. The city has already signed an environmental indemnification agreement with the Thurston group.

Hollander and Thurston are considering simply transferring that agreement to Hollander when the property is sold to the Bellingham developer. If the transfer is sufficient to protect the developer and the city, then the council would not have to be involved.

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It looks like the Tacoma office for the state attorneys general isn't moving to the Brewery District after all.

General Administration spokesman Jim Erskine said that on Friday afternoon, Kirkland-based developer MJR withdrew from negotiations for the Attorney General lease space in the Jet Building on 21st Street and Jefferson Avenue.

The building is owned by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly and it sits just outside the state-approved footprint for the University of Washington. As I reported last week, Chihuly's spokeswoman said he had received an unsolicited offer on the building and that the offer is being considered.

It appears that the answer to MJR was no.

Erskine said that MJR principal Mark Lahaie sent the GA a letter Friday afternoon, which stated that that "initial discussions made it clear that an agreement was unlikely."

The state's Department of General Administration said last week that MJR was the successful bidder for 36,000 square feet of new offices for 100 employees.

University of Washington Tacoma spokesman Mike Wark said last week that the university was surprised to learn that a building so close to the campus might be turned into office space. The school's master plan calls for finding opportunities outside the footprint for student services, such as residence halls, so that the state money can be used to build academic buildings as the student body grows.

If the university had known that Chihuly's property was available, Wark said, "we would have been interesting in talking about it."

"We emphasize purchasing properties when people are ready to sell," he said.

I've confirmed that among the original proposers, Tacoma-based developers Simon Johnson LLC pitched space in the downtown post office.

I'm awaiting word from the state GA department on what happens next.

UPDATE: Erskine said Monday afternoon that the state's team wll meet tomorrow morning to decide whether to choose another successful proposer from the original bidders, re-advertise, or end the search altogether.

The other proposers were:

• Prium Cos. LLC, whose lease portfolio includes 820 A St. and 1933 Dock St. The 820 A St. building is the Bank of America Plaza that sits on the intersection with Ninth Street, just before the entrance to I-705. The 1933 Dock St. site has no building yet.

• American Life, a Seattle-based property investment and management firm whose lease portfolio includes 2413 Pacific Ave.

• Simon Johnson LLC, the ­Tacoma-based development team of Herb Simon and Ted Johnson.

• Pacific Plaza LLC, at 1301 Pacific Ave., the former crumbling parking garage that has been renovated - by PCS Structural Solutions, BLRB Architects and the City of Tacoma - and now has office and retail space.

• Linmar Management Co., the San Diego-based firm that renovated the 1903-vintage Provident Building at 917 Pacific Ave.

Seventy-five years of Chevrolet sales at North First Street and Division Avenue end today with the closure of Bruce Titus Chevrolet.

The dealership was among 1,100 General Motors told last spring that it wouldn't renew their franchises in October 2010.

"Our lease was up in March, so I just decided we should take an opportunity to get out when we had a good chance," said dealership owner Bruce Titus.

Titus sold the car repair business to his cousin Jamie Will. Will plans to open a service and tire repair business today in the former Chevrolet garage Thursday.

The former Bruce Titus lots across North First Street from the dealership are expected to become independent used car dealers.

The federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program helped Titus pare down his inventory before the closure. The remaining new Chevrolets he sold to his cousin for his Titus-Will Chevrolet dealership in Olympia.

"I think it will be a good deal for the neighborhood," said Titus. "They'll still have a place to get their cars serviced in the North End, and it will save the jobs of a number of my former employees."

Meanwhile on the building's ground floor, Stadium Thriftway is expanding its footprint into part of a bodyshop.

The demise of Bruce Titus Chevrolet ends some 75 years of new car sales in the building. Titus had owned the Chevy franchise there for five years. Friendly Chevrolet had occupied the building for half-a-dozen years before that.

Walker Chevrolet, Friendly's predecessor, had been in the building since 1934, said Rick Fields, service manager at the new repair business.

Titus said that absent General Motors' notice that his franchise would be ended, he would still be in business at 633 Division Avenue.

"We did a nice business there," he said. "The facility was getting a little old, but it fit in well in the North End."

General Motors is reducing its dealer network to match it better its reduced car sales market share and overall new car sales declines.

The nation's largest car maker reorganized its operations under bankruptcy. In the process, in addition to closing dealerships, the company announced it was ditching its Pontiac brand and shuttering plants throughout the U.S.

Today the company announced it was shut down its Saturn operations after negotiations to sell it to the Penske Automotive Group collapsed.

Bruce Titus won't be out of the car business with the Chevrolet dealership closure. He has seven other new car stores in his automotive group.

The Tacoma City Council wants more time to consider whether it gives approval to an agreement that would allow construction of a new hotel on downtown Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway.

Council member Spiro Manthou told fellow council members at a study session at noon today that several legal questions require further study.

The council delayed consideration of an environmental indemnification agreement for the hotel two weeks ago after council member Connie Ladenburg said she wanted more information on the hotel proposal. The measure had been due to hit the council agenda tonight.

The indemnification agreement would define the city's and the developer's responsibilities should unforseen environmental issues emerge during construction and later.

But the council's delay has not been so much over environmental concerns as it has been over the quality of the hotel design, union issues and the developer's track record in supporting the Tacoma convention business.

Hollander Investments of Bellingham is proposing to build two hotels and an office building on the site just north of the Thea's Landing condo project on the east side of the Waterway on Dock Street.

One, hotel, a Marriott Residence Inn, would be erected first with the second hotel and office structure to follow within a few years.

Manthou said the council's approval of the environmental indemnification agreement may not be necessary. The site's present owner, Seattle hotelier Robert Thurston, may be able to transfer the existing agreement to Hollander as part of the sale.

But city lawyers say the city may wish to modify the agreement to deal with the possibility of subsequent division of the property and sale to different owners.

Don Meyer, the Foss Waterway Authority director, told the council that he shared their desire to have a hotel built on the waterway that Tacomans could point to with pride.

Ladenburg has said she doesn't want a freeway-style hotel built on the waterfront property.

Meyer assured council members that the authority wouldn't allow a cookie-cutter hotel to be built on the site.

Hollander's existing downtown hotel, a Marriott Courtyard Hotel near the Tacoma Convention Center, has been criticized for looking too much like a suburban hotel.

"We don't expect to see what we have on Pacific Avenue on the waterway from this group," Meyer assured the council. The existing Marriott is on Pacific Avenue.

Both Hollander and the waterway authority have told council members they must act quickly because the hotel's shoreline permits will expire in March unless construction is started by then.

The authority has spent the last five years holding the hands of two developers who were unable to get a hotel built on the site.

Meyer said after the meeting that Hollander is one of the rare developers who has the financial muscle to get a hotel built during lean economic times like now.

The city of Tacoma lost the Luzon building this past weekend. That's gotten us thinking about other historic buildings in the area.

We want to know what buildings you consider to be historic gems, what are your favorites and why?

Here are two early favorites, the old Elks Temple and Old City Hall.

The Tacoma office of the attorney general's office is moving from downtown to the Brewery District.

The state's General Administration department announced Friday that MJR Development, a Kirkland-based firm, was the successful bidder on 36,000 square feet of office space sought by the Tacoma office.

Currently they occupy six floors in the Washington Building at 1019 Pacific Ave, where their lease is up in June. They'll move to the Jet building at 2101 Jefferson Ave. on Dec. 10, 2010, said Cheral Jones of the General Administration department.

David Morton, property manager for the Washington Building, couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

According to the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's Web site, the property at 2101 Jefferson Ave. was built in 1919 and is a storage warehouse owned by glass artist Dale Chihuly. It's on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and 21st Street, which leads to an entrance to Interstate 705 just a few blocks down.

It's unclear if MJR Development has bought the building from Chihuly. Mark Lahaie, the contact for MJR listed on its bid to the state, could not be reached for comment Friday.

According to MJR's bid, the building will be renovated inside to Class A office space with LEED environmental certification while maintaining its distinctive brick structure outside.

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