Real Estate -- Ex-Egghead, Qfc Execs To Buy University Village -- No Quick Changes For Center Planned

A top QFC executive and a former Egghead Software official have signed an agreement to buy University Village shopping center.

Stuart Sloan, chairman and chief executive of Quality Food Centers, and Matt Griffin, former president and chief executive of Egghead Software, formed a partnership to buy the 24-acre shopping center. The center is adjacent to the 8.8 acre Foremost Dairies site, which QFC bought in September 1991.

"After we complete the acquisition, we'll start some planning to see what the best way is to use the combined properties," said Griffin, who stepped down as Egghead CEO in November.

But he said it can't be assumed that the two properties will be combined.

"They could end up being separate," he said. "It really is a case of, first, let's buy it."

Griffin would not disclose the purchase price. But he said the asking price was $45 million. The deal should close this summer.

University Village, east of the University of Washington and north of Hec Edmundson Pavilion, has been owned by a Tektronix pension fund since the site was developed in 1956.

A QFC store is among the center's anchors. University Village has about 70 tenants and approximately 320,000 square feet. Other tenants include Lamonts, Ernst, Bartell's and numerous small, somewhat upscale shops including Pasta & Co., Miller-Pollard, Fiorini Sports and Bronka.

Asked about potential changes in tenants, traffic access or layout, hours or rents, Griffin said the partnership planned "no initial changes."

Sloan and Griffin worked together at Egghead Software, which they both joined in February 1989, signing four-year employment contracts. Sloan was chairman of Egghead, and his tenure there was widely viewed as part of a turnaround effort. Before joining Egghead, Griffin was a partner in the Seattle real estate development firm of Wright Runstad & Co. for 10 years.