By Meghan Hall
Esterra Park, a 30-acre master planned community just off of State Route 520 in Redmond, Wash., is expected to be one of the region’s next great live-work hubs upon completion, with 2,600 apartment homes and 245,000 square feet of Class A office space in the works. With entitlements for various portions of the community already underway, as well as proximity to transit and major companies such as Microsoft, Esterra Park offers ample investment opportunity for those such as Madison, N.J.-based PGIM Real Estate, who are willing to take advantage of the up and coming neighborhood. According to King County property Records, PGIM purchased a vacant development site known as Block 3 in Esterra Park for $11.2 million. Houston, Texas-based Development Capital Resources (DCR) was the seller.
The property, located at 15550 NE Turing St., totals 92,248 square feet. King County records indicate that the site is vacant but zoned for commercial uses, while documents from the City of Redmond show that the project planning process has already begun. The formal application to redevelop the site was submitted to the city in August of 2018; preliminary records reveal that the project will be a seven story office building with three levels of underground parking.
Just adjacent to the project site, plans have also been submitted for the construction of an eight story multifamily building with 600 apartment units. The property, known as Esterra Park Block 2, is to be developed by Seattle-based Capstone Partners, while Lincoln Properties will be developing Esterra Park’s Blocks 5, 6A and 9 into three additional multifamily buildings, which will have 231, 212 and 215 units, respectively. Lincoln Properties purchased Blocks 5 and 6A in December of 2016 for $33.3 million, with plans for future development already proposed. The Lincoln Properties portion of the project, located at the corner of 156th Ave. NE and NE Turing St., is under construction and is expected to be completed this year.
Once built-out, Esterra Park is anticipated to become a major live-work hub in one of Seattle’s many quickly growing suburbs. Two light rail stations are expected to be added to Redmond by 2023, one of which will be based in Esterra Park itself, while the other will be located at the Overlake Transit Center at NE 40th St. With the light rail in place, residents and employees will be able to get into downtown Bellevue in 11 minutes and downtown Seattle in 30 minutes. The Esterra Park community is also served by the RapidRide B-Line as well as the King County Metro Regional transit station just to the south and the Overlake Transit Center situated at the north end of the property.
Capstone Partners, as well as its financial partner Lionstone Investments, has been spearheading the development of Esterra Park for more than five years. The 28-acre property, according to the Esterra Park website, will be geared toward transit-oriented, mixed-use development and include park and hotel components as well. The property is also within the Overlake Village Masterplan, which states that the area is ripe for development, with more than 48,000 jobs in the neighborhood. The City of Redmond is also anticipating to add more than 5,000 new homes and 25,000 jobs before 2030, with potential for the city’s growth expected to continue.
