A bank-owned retail and office property in the Fashion District has sold at auction for nearly $13.5M.

The roughly 44K SF mixed-use property at 1001 Towne Ave. was 82% leased to a mix of retail and wholesale apparel tenants at the time of the sale.

Colliers Executive Vice President Mark Schuessler, Vice Chair Sean Fulp and Executive Vice President Ryan Plummer represented the seller.

“We were thrilled to deliver a successful exit and significant recovery for the special servicer,” Schuessler said in a statement.

A loan on the property was transferred to special servicing in June 2020 at the borrower's request and in anticipation of a forthcoming default chalked up to the pandemic, according to Fitch Ratings. Foreclosure occurred in August 2021. The property had been real estate-owned and under the control of a special servicer since October 2021, Fitch said.

The property was acquired by an undisclosed local buyer represented by Mark Hong of Korus Real Estate.

Although the property went into foreclosure in 2021, new data has found that commercial foreclosures were up 17% in January compared to the same time last year.

Some auction industry watchers have said they expect auctions to increase in the coming year as well.