By Meghan Hall
The Seattle office investment market is gaining traction once again after a period of significant pause. In a transaction that closed on September 14th, Beacon Capital Partners has purchased an ideally located asset at the heart of downtown Seattle. Beacon paid $50.7 million or about $464 per square foot, for the property. The seller, according to public documents, was San Francisco-based Elliott Bay Ventures.
Located at 3005 1st Ave., the asset was originally constructed in 1990 and totals 109,347 square feet, according to previous reporting done by The Registry. The building last sold in 2018, when its previous owner/user, Tacoma-based biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Econet, sold off the property for $21.5 million, or about $308 per square foot.
The asset was renovated in 2012 and features an updated lobby, gym and wellness center, rooftop patio and 94 parking stalls. The building also has a 250-seat auditorium and loading docks. The Econet building is within walking distance of Olympic Sculpture Park, The Space Needle, KOMO Plaza and numerous shops and restaurants.
Investment sales in office activity came to a standstill during the second quarter, and no significant sales activity within Seattle proper was recorded during Q2, according to a report released by Kidder Mathews. However, in recent weeks, office sales volume has started to pick up again. In a transaction that also closed at the beginning of the week, the Pace Bell Building in Bellevue sold for $46.4 million, while REI solidified its sale of its Spring District headquarters to Facebook for $390 million.
Sales were down until recently, states the report, due not just to COVID-19, but the REET increase that took effect at the beginning of the year. Across the entire Puget Sound, only three transactions greater than $10 million were closed, and total sales volume during the second quarter totaled $191.4 million.
