By Meghan Hall
A developer that has been active in Seattle’s downtown core has sold off several parcels in the suburban town of Auburn, Wash. According to public records, Da Li Properties has sold a local retail center for about $10.3 million. The buyer was a limited liability company affiliated with Alamo Group.
The asset is located at 3734-4018 A Street SE. The addresses include a number of parcels part of the White River Junction shopping center, according to information from the King County Assessor. The parcels total just over 5.2 acres and are developed with buildings that were constructed between 1993 and 1993. Combined, the include 41,222 square feet of retail space.
Da Li originally acquired the properties back in 2016 for $10.6 million. The asset is anchored by a Safeway and other retailers such as a McDonald’s, Rio Blanco, and 7-Eleven. They center is not far from Auburn Riverside High School, Ilalko Elementary School and Rogner Park. A search on the City of Auburn’s website yielded no plans for redevelopment by Da Li Properties.
Overall, many experts consider the Puget Sound’s retail market to be relatively healthy compared to others coming out of the pandemic. Because of the expanding local economy, retail demand drivers have been more prominent than other markets, even as fundamentals softened.
Vacancy remains relatively tight, according to analysis by Marcus & Millichap. Over the course of 2020, the Seattle-Tacoma market saw 390,000 square feet of net absorption and vacancy remained between 2.5 percent and 3.4 percent. Throughout the remainder of the year, Marcus & Millichap predicts that vacancy will reach 3.1 percent, a 10 basis point increase.
Additionally, rents climbed seven percent in 2020; in 2021, rents will increase by 1.1 percent to $22.87 per square foot. The number of investment sales that closed in 2020 was just one-third of 2019 levels, at $765 million in volume; however, pricing per square foot reached $439. Cap rates declined 30 basis points to 5.7 percent. The fundamentals are promising for retail, which many hope will mean continued recovery for the industry.
