The Hotel Dispute That Stalled Pacific Avenue
A legal tug-of-war over a mortgage on the Mount Nichols Hotel forces a courtroom showdown.
The suit of Wilson vs. Able was argued before Judge Allyn in chambers Friday and consumed a large part of the morning. The suit has been pending since April last and a large volume of evidence has been taken which, done up by a typewriter and nicely bound, has been laid before the court. The suit grows out of the purchase by David Wilson of the property on the southwest corner of Pacific Avenue and Thirteenth Street, comprising the lot and building thereon known as the Mt. Nichols hotel. Wilson bonded the property paying thereon $500, and was to pay $7,500 more by the first of April to secure the deed. On the first of April the money was tendered, and then the question of the satisfaction of a mortgage of $2,000 arose. Wilson felt that the contract provided for a clear deed and no encumbrances, while Able declared that, nothing having been said about the mortgage previously, it followed that all improvements on the property in that line were thrown in with the bargain and should be duly assumed and cared for by the purchaser. Between these two opinions the line was very carefully drawn and Wilson entered suit for specific performance of the contract.
“Wilson felt that the contract provided for a clear deed and no encumbrances, while Able declared that... all improvements on the property in that line were thrown in with the bargain.”
A century and a half later, the friction between 'clear title' and 'as-is' expectations remains a hallmark of Pacific Northwest real estate. The legal gymnastics over a mortgage at Pacific and 13th illustrate how foundational property disputes have been to the development of Tacoma's urban core.
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