By Meghan Hall
Interest in Seattle’s growing life sciences hub continues. The sale of the Westlake Union Center, a 10 story office complex at the heart of South Lake Union in Seattle, closed today for $118.3 million, or about $556.40 per square foot, according to King County public documents. Deustche Asset Management sold the property, located at 1505 Westlake Ave. N., to San Francisco-based DivcoWest.
The property includes roughly 212,623 gross square feet of rental office space as well as 168,888 square feet of garage and storage space.
The purchase is DivcoWest’s first foray into the Seattle office market, although the real estate operating company has targeted assets in numerous tech-oriented markets such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Austin. DivcoWest generally focuses on office, lab and research and development (R&D) opportunities that serve innovation-oriented and life science industry tenants. Since its founding, DivcoWest has acquired over 40 million square feet of real estate, and its sister company, LoanCore Capital, currently manages $6 billion of debt-related assets.
The Westlake Union Center fits well within DivcoWest’s target portfolio. The building was originally constructed in 1994 and also contains one level of parking. The complex also offers a modern fitness center, common-area decks with views of Lake Union and Seattle, a conference center and an eight-story atrium. Lake View Deli, Heritage Bank and the Lake Union Trail bike and running path are all accessible via the site. The Westlake Union Center is also near several Metro Bus lines, the Rapid Ride E Line and the South Lake Union Street car.
South Lake Union continues to be a hub for tenants and investors alike, given the neighborhood’s proximity to downtown Seattle and other tech companies in the area, such as Amazon. According to Kidder Mathews’ first quarter Seattle office report, tech and innovation-oriented companies continue to drive Seattle’s office market, with vacancy at the end of first quarter coming in at 5.64 percent.
DivcoWest declined The Registry’s request for comment.
