Broker lauded for HP campus deal

Terry Phillips of Phillips Group awarded by peers for $55 million sale

BY PAUL LEONARD of the VBJ

Veteran broker Terry Phillips won the Commercial Real Estate Transaction of the Year Award last month for the sale of Hewlett Packard's Vancouver campus to silicon wafer manufacturer SEH America.

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The Certified Commercial Investment Members of Oregon and Southwest Washington gave Phillips the award at a ceremony in Portland Dec. 2. In a statement last week, the group cited the deal's size, its economic repercussions for the regional economy and the complexity of the transaction for its decision.

"We knew they were several other transactions just as worthy in terms of their complications," said Phillips, founded of Vancouver-based Phillips Group. "So when we did receive it, I was pleasantly surprised."

The $55 million agreement between Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP and SEH America, a subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Handotai Group of Japan, was one of the biggest sales in Clark County history - rivaled only by the purchase of Columbia Business Center by Killian Pacific in 2006.

Phillips led a team of brokers in a transaction that featured delicate negotiations with state and local agencies, a lengthy due diligence process and the clearing of the occasional linguistic and cultural hurdle. "The task of going over the details in the deal was considerable," he said.

The CCIM chapter also praised Phillips Group brokers Dick Ballew and John Santos for their efforts in securing water and sewer supplies and the construction of a future electrical sub-station from state and local authorities.

In an otherwise dismal year for commercial real estate, the SEH deal was a rare bright spot in the local economy, with as many as 800 jobs expected to be created in Clark County in the next five years as a result of the purchase.

Phillips shared Transaction of the Year honors with James Whitney of Pendleton-based Whitney Land Group, also recognized by his peers for the sale of the 8,000-acre Murtha Ranch in Eastern Oregon to a conservancy group.

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