By Jack Stubbs
On Tuesday, November 14th, 500 Mercer, a 32,370 square foot, four-tenant commercial condominium sold for $17.75 million, or approximately $548 per square foot, according to King County records.
The buyer was K & L LLC, a private equity investor affiliated with Kwai Shung Hsue from Mercer Island. The seller was Exxel Development Group, a general contractor and multi-family and commercial development company located in Bellingham, Washington. The deal was recorded on November 15th.
Kidder Mathews commercial real estate brokers Erik Swanson, Mike King, Jason Miller and Damian Sevilla represented the seller in the transaction.
The roughly 32,000 square foot property is located in the Lumen Building, a full city block mixed-use project at the corner of 5th and Mercer St. Located at 500 Mercer, the complex is just one block from both the Seattle Center and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, the property is less than half a mile from access to Washington State Route 99 and roughly a mile from the edge of Lake Union to the north.
The mixed-use property offers retail space at street-level that includes a QFC grocery store. The property also contains two levels of below-grade parking as well as air conditioning and wheelchair access to the rooms.
According to the property listing on Seattle-based architecture firm Hewitt’s web site, Lumen is meant to serve as a template for other residential projects in Queen Anne, “[aspiring] to raise the architectural bar for mixed-use development in the City while activating the neighborhood.” The web site also emphasizes the versatility of the units, with each offering a “combination of form and function allowing for unlimited flexibility with open floor plans, luminescent exterior walls, and movable interior wall systems.”
Exxel Development offers a variety of services to its clients at various stages of the development process, including pre-construction, construction management, and consulting services. Founded in 1989, the company undertakes a variety of projects in the commercial and mixed-use residential sectors, including office/retail, senior/multi-family, hospitality, medical, institutional, high-rise and historic renovation. Some of the company’s other mixed-use developments in Seattle include The Rooster, a 197-unit project in the Roosevelt neighborhood; 1319 Dexter, a 7-story 286-unit mixed-use development; and Lightbox, a 7-story 162-unit development in the University District.
