By Meghan Hall
Pasadena, Calif.-based commercial real estate developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities is moving forward with its investments in Seattle. In a transaction that closed just today, April 30th, Alexandria has purchased a Salvation Army property at 1010 4th Ave. S. for an even $42 million. The Salvation Army branch, based in Rancho Palos Verde, Calif., was the seller.
Seattle-based Kinzer Partners represented the Salvation Army in the transaction.
According to King County property records, the site was formerly home to a 56,160 square foot warehouse, originally constructed in 1930. The total lot size is nearly 70,000 square feet, or about 1.6 acres. The property is directly across from CenturyLink Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders, as well as T-Mobile Park, and is right off of Seattle’s Light Rail line. Other surrounding development includes a mix of industrial and commercial, with West Coast Flooring, Pacific Food Importers and Pacific Office Automation situated adjacent to the property.
It is unclear what Alexandria has in store for the property, however, the firm has moved forward with a number of purchases and projects across Seattle in recent months. In July of last year, Alexandria purchased the Apex Building in Pioneer Square for $12.3 million. In August of last year, the firm committed to spending an additional $143.5 million to acquire 2.86 acres of underutilized City-owned properties along Mercer Street that will ultimately be redeveloped. In the coming year, Alexandria is also expected to deliver 1165 Eastlake Ave. E., a 100,000 square foot office and laboratory development fully leased to Adaptive Biotechnologies for twelve years. In 2022 and 2023, Alexandria is working to deliver 1150 Eastlake, which totals 303,000 square feet and 701 Dexter, which totals 230,000 square feet, to market.
Sales activity over the first several months of the year in Seattle has slowed considerably, particularly when compared to 2019’s record-breaking deal volume. The impact of COVID-19 has also been considerable to the industry, and to developers such as Alexandria, who in recent weeks have had to pause construction projects to comply with stay-at-home orders. According to a report released by Broderick Group, 1.98 million square feet of office space was expected to deliver this year, the vast majority of which is centered in and around downtown Seattle.
“This pause will push back some expected deliveries into later quarters, or for those projects yet to put a shovel in the ground, be re-evaluated until the economic impact is more fully known or they sign a significant pre-lease,” states Broderick Group in its report.
