By Jack Stubbs
On May 13th, in a transaction that was only recently recorded, the Stonemeadow Farms Apartments in Bothell sold for $81.8 million, or approximately $292,142 per unit, Snohomish County records show. The buyer of the property, LIPT 27th Ave. SE LLC, shares the same address as JLL’s El Segundo, CA office. The seller was Hartford, Connecticut-based Barings Real Estate Advisers, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate-focused investment firms.
Neither the buyer nor the seller responded to calls for comment about the recent transaction — which officially recorded on May 28th — in time for the publishing of this story.
The three-story Stonemeadow Farms Apartments, located at 23028 27th Ave. SE, is a 280-unit apartment complex that was constructed in 1998, according to the property listing on apartments.com.
Stonemeadow Farms offers a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units that range from 659 to 1,102 square feet and rent for between $1,533 and $2,673, according to the property’s web site. The newly-renovated units offer a number of amenities including granite countertops, hardwood floors, patio/balcony and walk-in closets. The property also features various community amenities including a newly-renovated clubhouse, 24-hour fitness center, business center, and on-site property maintenance.
The various property amenities are one of the primary draws of the asset: “The unrivaled experience at Stonemeadow Farms Apartments begins with a private tour of our refined, tasteful apartments nestled in the heart of our pet-friendly community,” the web site states. “As soon as you set foot on our grounds, before even stepping through the doorframe of your next home, you will start to be wrapped in the comforts and amenities our neighbors value and cherish.”
Stonemeadow Farms is approximately three miles north of downtown Bothell and six miles east of Mountlake Terrace. The property is also roughly three miles from access to Interstate-405 and three miles north of the University of Washington Bothell.
Bothell—a city located on the border of King and Snohomish Counties—has seen a significant amount of multifamily and commercial investment activity through second quarter 2019, as local and out-of-state developers and investors continue to eye the city with interest: and the recent sale of Stonemeadow Farms is the latest in a number of transactions that have occurred in the city over the last several months.
In mid-February, the 372-Unit Bailey Farm Apartments—located at 1225 183rd St. SE, about four miles north of the Stonemeadow Farms property—sold for sold for $113.5 million, or approximately $305,107 per unit, with Bailey Farm Holdings LLC acquiring the property from Beverley Hills, California-based global real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson.
In another example of activity occurring in Bothell’s multifamily market, in early April, NortMarq’s Seattle Office arranged a $29.12 refinancing of the 135-unit Edition Apartments located at 18420 102nd Avenue NE.
Increasingly, the Bothell submarket is also being seen as an appealing alternative to exploding cities like Bellevue and Seattle further south, and has seen significant activity, especially on the commercial side and within the life-sciences sector.
In early March, EQ, a subsidiary of New York-based Blackstone Group sold Seattle Genetics’ Seattle office, the three-building Canyon Park Commons property located at 2300 223rd St. SE, for $63 million, or about $305 per square foot.
NKF Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, who represented EQ in the Canyon Park Commons sale, highlighted the continuing appeal of Bothell across various business sectors throughout the Puget Sound region.
“Bothell remains one of the more robust office markets in the Puget Sound due to its concentration of high-tech industries including life sciences, medical device manufacturing, aerospace, telecom, and utilities,” said Shannon at the time of the sale of another Bothell property, the Canyon Pointe Campus, at the end of January. “Improving office market fundamentals have been a key factor in increasing liquidity in this suburban submarket.”
