By Meghan Hall
Office activity is picking up, particularly on the Eastside where a number of deals have closed. In one of the most recent transactions, American Realty Advisors sold Waterfront Place for $45 million, or about $882 per square foot. According to public documents, the buyer is Seattle-based Progeny 3, Inc.
The deal for the property closed on Friday, December 17th. Located at 5209 Lake Washington Boulevard, the asset was constructed in 2008 and totals about 51,000 square feet. The building has about 25,000 square foot floorplates and is home to tenants such as Bluetooth, MacroHealth and TriStar Finance. According to the property’s website, amenities include covered parking, showers and lockers, a conference center and access to the Yarrow Bay Marina.
JLL’s Senior Director Logan Greer, Managing Director Buzz Ellis and Senior Managing Director Gerry Rohm along with Managing Director Mark Flippo and Senior Vice President Sam Ziemba, represented the seller.
“Office investor interest remains strong for the Seattle market given the long-term strength of the underlying market fundamentals – the booming tech market, intellectual capital and low cost of living when compared to other major West Coast markets,” Greer said.
The property last sold for about $31.4 million. At the time, the seller was Talon Private Capital, who was selling the asset after four years of ownership.
“Located along the desirable Kirkland lake front, Talon was attracted to this newly developed, high quality office building that had water views from three sides,” states Talon’s website. “Waterfront Place achieved the top end of market rents and its combination of quality and location mitigated any significant downside.”
Progeny 3’s acquisition of the property comes after several major office transactions in recent weeks. Just last week, Vanbarton Group spent $217 million on Redmond’s Millennium Corporate Park, a six-building office asset leased to big-name tenants. REI sold off another one of its headquarter buildings in Kent for $24.6 million.
Within Seattle proper, New York City-based Zurich Alternative Asset Management is gearing up to acquire the 44,445 square foot Terry Thomas office building for $52.1 million. And, in the biggest transactions this year to-date, Alexandria brought Clarion Partners onboard in an arranged, off-market joint venture. The transaction included a 70 percent portion of the life science portfolio in Seattle’s South Lake Union for $315 million. Combined, the transactions are welcome signs of life for Seattle’s office market, which has largely remained dormant throughout the year as investors and real estate experts have waited on making large financial and business decisions.
