The 345,992 square foot, state of the art, 10-story, Class A office building that is home in Seattle to the social network company Facebook, sold today for $286 million, or just over $826 per square foot, according to public documents. Based on the information on the deed, the buyer of Dexter Station, located at 1101 Dexter Avenue in Seattle, is an entity associated with Tristar Capital and Dusseldorf-based Commerz Real, a real estate arm of Commerzbank Group. The seller was San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group and Seattle-based Capstone Partners.
The companies had welcomed Facebook to the property in February of 2015 when the tech giant leased 275,000 square feet with an option for the remaining space. At the time, it was the the largest office lease ever executed in Seattle by a company headquartered outside the region. Facebook occupies the entire building now, under at 12-year lease.
The sale generated a 4.4 cap rate for the sellers, according to sources with details of the transaction. This rate is based on the existing rents in the building. Stockbridge had been part of this development since 2007, when it made an investment for its opportunity fund 3. The sale generated an 18 percent IRR return, or a 3X equity multiple, stated the source.
Capstone Partners developed Dexter Station with equity and financing from Stockbridge Capital Group. Capstone Partners developed the project on a speculative basis. From the start, it was designed for technology companies; this facility has 38,000 square foot average floors, 13 foot floor to floor ceiling heights, two and half times the typical power and HVAC capacities, conference facilities, bike storage and 7 roof decks, according to the company’s Web site. The building has achieved LEED Gold designation by the US Green Building Council, and it boasts some of the best views in all of the South Lake Union neighborhood.
Facebook engaged the famed architectural firm Frank Gehry LLP out of Los Angeles for the buildout, according to Capstone, which also worked on Facebook’s new world headquarters in Menlo Park, CA.
The buyer was represented by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Western Region office in Los Angeles and led by Kevin Shannon, president, Ken White, executive managing director, and Michael Moll, managing director, as well as Seattle representatives Tim O’Keefe, executive managing director, and Jesse Ottele, executive managing director. The sellers, Stockbridge and Capstone, were represented by Eastdil Secured.
