By Jack Stubbs
As the Puget Sound region continues to grow and expand, big-name investors are continuing to look beyond the region’s established core cities for appealing commercial investment opportunities.
New York-based Blackstone Group, recognized as one of the world’s leading investment firms, recently acquired a two-building office park in Mukilteo, directly adjacent to the newly-operational Paine Field Airport in Everett, for $18 million, or around $185 per square foot, Snohomish County records show. The seller of the property was Boston-based real estate investment management firm TA Realty.
The property in Mukilteo, known as the Harbour Reach Business Park and located at 4620 and 4640 Campus Place, is comprised of two Class A office buildings which total 97,000 square feet. Constructed in 2002, the buildings total 52,100 square feet and 44,900 square feet, respectively, according to public documents.
The office park sits directly adjacent to State Route 525 and is roughly nine miles south of downtown Everett. The property is also just two miles from Paine Field Airport which, since its launch of commercial flights starting in March 2019 has added a new dimension to the local aerospace and manufacturing marketplace in the surrounding region.
Paine Field Airport (PAE) was originally built in 1936, and has held a leading role both regionally and nationally as the manufacturing center for Boeing’s industry-leading aircrafts including the 787, 777, 767 and 747, according to PAE’s web site. PAE—which is within a mile of Boeing’s Everett Manufacturing facilities—is also the site of the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour, indicating that the airport continues to serve as a focal point for Everett and surrounding cities.
Recent strides have been made on the development side in Everett, as well. In early June, the Port Commission unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the Port to acquire up to 67 acres of the vacant Kimberly-Clark mill site in Everett to support maritime commerce, economic development, international trade and support to the Department of Defense and other branches of the U.S. government, according to a statement released by the Port Commission.
According to an independent economic impact study, the Port’s ownership would support more than 950 direct jobs and an additional 700 indirect and jobs. In an effort to leverage public-private partnerships, The Port has more than $450 million worth of investment completed over the last five years and currently underway.
Blackstone Group’s capture of the Harbour Reach property in Everett marks the firm’s latest statement of intent in the Puget Sound region, where it has continued to make its presence known in recent months, both in terms of acquisitions and dispositions of various assets across the region. In early March, the company’s subsidiary EQ sold the Canyon Park Commons in Bothell for $63 million, or about $305 per square foot, to City Office REIT, Inc.
In early June, the company spent $93 million, or approximately $206,666 per unit, to acquire the 450-Unit River Trail Apartments in Puyallup from Bellevue-based American Capital Group Inc.
In late September, Los Angeles-based Colony Capital Inc. and Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX (an affiliate of Blackstone) announced that they had entered into agreements for Blackstone to acquire Colony Industrial’s last-mile light industrial portfolio—which comprises 60 million square feet of infill, logistics assets across 465 light industrial buildings in 26 U.S. markets–for an aggregate purchase price of $5.9 billion, according to a statement released by the company.
