You can now count a historic building in downtown Tacoma as one of the latest victims of a tough economy.

The Daily Journal of Commerce in Seattle reported on April 16 that the 36-unit Albers Mill Lofts, located at 1821 Dock Street, was purchased at auction on April 13 at the County-City Building for $1.4 million by an investment group that includes Ron Sher, founder of Third Place Books in Seattle’s Ravenna and Lake Forest Park neighborhoods and managing partner of Crossroads shopping center in Bellevue. The newspaper confirmed the sale with attorney Ted Woodward with Wolfstone, Panchot & Bloch, the trustee that conducted the sale. The Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Web site has also recorded the foreclosure sale.

A Notice of Trustee’s Sale was published on March 9 in the Tacoma Daily Index. According to the legal notice, Heritage Property LLC and Albers Mill LLC — which include developer Grace Pleasants, who recently co-led a failed effort to develop “Elks on Broadway,” a $32 million mixed-use project on a vacant lot next to a McMenamin’s brewpub slated to open in spring 2013 — owed approximately $2.7 million in loans, unpaid interest, court costs, and attorney fees.

The building was constructed in 1904 and served as a cereal plant until 1944. In 2004, the building re-opened as loft apartments after a $10 million renovation. That followed a grassroots effort to save the building from demolition. It is listed on the local and national registers of historic places.

To read the Daily Journal of Commerce‘s articles about the foreclosure online (subscription required), visit djc.com/news/re/12039935.html and djc.com/news/re/12039806.html.