By Meghan Hall
The Delmar Building in Pioneer Square was completed in the early 1890s, part of a wave of building activity that swept through Seattle after the Fire of June 6th. Since then, the property, located at 108 S. Washington Street, has maintained its importance on a prominent corner in the neighborhood. And, for the first time in more than 75 years, the asset has traded hands. According to Westlake Associates, a local commercial real estate firm, the property was purchased by Delmar Plus, Inc., for $7.35 million, or about $502 per square foot. The seller was SRO Properties, Inc.
Ellen Mohl of Westlake Associates and Dan Stutz of CBRE were the listing agents for the property, while Allie Bailey of Keller Williams North Seattle was the selling agent.
“Among the first buildings built after the Great Seattle Fire, The Delmar is a beautifully maintained and pride of ownership property. This was the first time it has been offered for sale in 75 years,” Mohl told The Registry Thursday afternoon in a statement.
The building is 100 percent leased to office and retail tenants. Google maps indicates that currently, Agate Designs and Bon Voyage Vintage call the building home. Based on public documents, the building totals 14,656 square feet and sits on a 4,440 square foot lot.
According to the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the building is supposed to have housed one of Seattle’s earliest pharmacies as well as a Chinese laundry in the basement. Originally, the property was designed as a joint block for two different owners. The northern portion of the site became The State Hotel, a 200-room, low-budget hotel. The Delmar Building followed in its construction shortly thereafter. The four-story, brick-clad building faces the northeast corner of First Avenue South and South Washington Street. Both facades are developed into four and six window bays, respectively, and the building features terra cotta panels and tall piers with Romanesque Revival Capitals and deep bases.
Investor interest in the neighborhood continues to grow, with several other Pioneer Square buildings have sold in recent months. Also in January of this year, the Maynard Building, a five-story, 33,000 square foot historic asset sold to Martin Smith Inc. Martin Smith Inc. purchased the building for $8.375 million. Nicola Wealth of Vancouver was the seller. Nicola Wealth also disposed of the Seattle Quilt Building, also in Pioneer Square, for $13.575 million to Trinity Real Estate. During the summer of 2019, Alexandria Real Estate purchased a two-story masonry retail store known as the Apex Building. Constructed in 1905, the property was sold for $12.5 million by Mercer Island, Wash.-based Robert A Masin. The adjacent property, built the same year, was also included in the transaction.
