By Jack Stubbs
Bothell—a city located on the border of King and Snohomish Counties—has seen a significant amount of multifamily and commercial investment activity over the last several months, as local and out-of-state developers and investors continue to eye the city with interest.
And a recently-recorded sale indicates that the city represents an attractive proposition. On Thursday, February 21st, the Bailey Farm Apartments in north Bothell sold for $113.5 million, or approximately $305,107 per unit, according to Snohomish County records. The buyer, Bailey Farm Holdings LLC, shares the same address in Dallas, Texas as Stream Realty Partners-Houston LP, a commercial real estate investment company.
The seller was the multifamily branch of Beverley Hills, California-based Kennedy Wilson, a global real estate investment firm that focuses on acquiring and enhancing commercial, multifamily and residential assets in high-growth markets.
The Bailey Farm Apartments, located at 1225 183rd St. SE roughly six miles north of downtown Bothell and adjacent to North Creek Park, is a three-story property built in 2013 that contains 372 units, according to the property listing on apartments.com. The property offers a mix of one- and two- and three-bedroom apartment units that range from 630 to 1,069 square feet, according to its web site.
Some of the in-unit amenities available to residents include stainless steel, energy-efficient appliances, quartz countertops, vinyl plank flooring and extra storage space. Additionally, some of the community amenities provided at the apartment complex include a 24-hour fitness center with a yoga studio; year-round pool and hot tub; a covered parking garage; and an outdoor veranda with a fireplace.
The property’s web site emphasizes its intimate setting in a “country-style” community in a “serene environment full of rustic appeal” where residents have access to everything at their fingertips.
Bailey Farm is close to the city boundary of Mill Creek, seven miles north of Kenmore and just under twenty miles from Seattle. The development also sits in close proximately to Washington State Route 527.
Kennedy Wilson is a deep value investor and operator of real estate—operating across four sectors: multifamily, office, industrial and retail—and looks to increase its NOI through strategic asset management and development, according to the company’s web site. The company’s global real estate portfolio comprises $16 billion worth of assets under management, with a portfolio that includes 27,000 multifamily units, 20 million square feet of commercial/hotel.
More locally in the Pacific Northwest, Kennedy Wilson’s portfolio includes 10,530 multifamily units and 2.3 million square feet of commercial properties. The company owns a number of properties throughout the Puget Sound region, with assets in Issaquah, Tacoma, Auburn, Fife, Bellevue and Everett, among other locations.
In May, 2018, the company announced the $422 million sale of a six-property multifamily portfolio totaling 2,199 units, with three of these assets located in Washington State. These included the 297-unit Big Trout Lodge in Liberty Lake; the 396-unit Montair at Somerset Hill in Tumwater; and the 240-unit StonePointe in University Place, Washington.
In September 2018, the company sold the 230-Unit Carvel Apartments in the Snohomish County city of Mukilteo for $69.25 to the Housing Authority of Snohomish County.
Along with the recent sale of the Bailey Farm Apartments, there have been several other large-scale multifamily sales in Bothell over the last few months. In November 2018, Los Angeles-based Decron Properties spent $173 million to acquire the 558-Unit Avana 522 Apartments in Bothell from an entity affiliated with Blackstone Group.
In December 2018, Holland Residential—which has had a number of residential developments reviewed by the city of Seattle over the last several months—acquired the 147-Unit Saskia at Beardslee Crossing Apartments for $44.875 million, or approximately $305,272 per unit, from an entity based in Bellevue.
