Port of Astoria saves big on loans

The Port of Astoria will save more than $500,000 by refinancing a loan used to buy the Taggart Building on Pier 1.

The Port took out a $1.7 million loan with Clatsop Community Bank in 2010 to buy the three-story office complex, named after the family of former Port Commissioner Glenn Taggart, who developed the building. The loan was later transferred to Lewis & Clark Bank.

The agency worked with David Ulbricht, an adviser with the Special Districts Association of Oregon, to recruit other banks and refinance at lower interest rates. The best proposal came from Kitsap Bank based in Port Orchard, Washington, which offered a fully amortized loan running through June 2035 that Ulbricht said would ultimately save the agency around $550,000.

The new loan agreement with Kitsap Bank will cost the Port around $110,000 a year, Ulbricht said, versus around $150,000 a year with Lewis & Clark. The agreement will also remove a lien on the building used as collateral, he said.

“The bank you’re getting the funding from is taking just your promise to pay – no bank fees, no loan fees, no appraisals, no deeds, a very simple transaction,” he said. “And I’m excited as much as you folks are, because when we are able to save our members money in the process and get them good financing, then we’re doing our job.”