September 4, 2008 6:55 AM

Has Fuller Towne & Country Properties joined Sotheby's?

As I write this, there has been no official confirmation that Scott Webber of Salt Lake City has purchased Fuller Towne & Country Properties and will make it an affiliate of Sotheby's.
Several people told me that is the case on Wednesday.
And I probably have 15 outstanding phone calls to brokers and others in the industry who might know.
But perhaps the most compelling evidence is that the name Fuller Sotheby's International has been registered with the Colorado Secretary of State. The "True name" of the owner is Sycamore Brokerage LLC, of Salt Lake City, according to documents. On Thursday, I called Kenneth Birrell, the attorney listed on the documents. I asked him point blank if Scott Webber had bought Fuller and was making it an affiliate of Sotheby's. He told me he would not comment.
Webber is certainly no stranger to Colorado residential real estate.
He entered the Denver market in 1994 by buying a Coldwell Banker office from the once mighty uranium king Oren Benton, who at the time was an owner of the Colorado Rockies and was embroiled in the one of the largest bankruptcies in Colorado's history.
The next year, he bought one of the oldest names in Denver real estate - Van Schaack.
He bought it from MDC Holdings, parent of Richmond American Homes. MDC had bought it from former car dealer Leo Payne. Payne had tried to buy Van Schaack from a song out of bankruptcy court, but a mystery buyer began bidding against him, forcing him to pay far more than he hoped. I'm one of the few people in Denver who knows the identity of the mystery buyer, but I cannot say who it was, as I was given the information in confidence.
Webber is believed to have paid $5 million in cash to MDC for Van Schaack.
In 1998, Webber sold Van Schaack and Coldwell Banker to New Jersey-based NRT. NRT also bought Moore and Co. from Bill Moore at the same time, in the biggest residential brokerage deal in Denver's history.
The combined companies had more than $3.3 billion in 1998.

Posted by John Rebchook at 6:55 AM | Comments (0)