By Meghan Hall
A retail center adjacent to the Redmond Town Center and the town’s main commercial core has traded hands as investors look for opportunity on the Eastside. In a deal that closed on December 30th, Bellevue-based Legacy Companies sold a strip center for $19,886,766. The buyer, according to public documents, is affiliated with AMLI Residential, based in Chicago.
The asset is located at 16771 NE Redmond Way and was originally constructed in the 1960s. King County parcel data reveals that in total, the strip center includes 22,854 square feet of space and just over 99,000 square feet of land. Current tenants include Romio’s Pizza and Pasta, FedEx and Montessori.
AMLI Residential, which owns and operates a number of retail properties throughout the United States in addition to multifamily assets, is involved in the asset class in an effort to create “economic output” within the communities they build.
“AMLI communities are located in the urban hearts of the city. Premium retail options drive our communities’ economies as well as creating experiences that attract customers and enhance the quality of life for our residents,” states the firm’s website.
To date, AMLI owns and manages more than 276,000 square feet of retail nationwide. Its markets include Denver, Austin, Southern California and Chicago. The company also has more than 55,000 square feet of retail in construction throughout the country. AMLI also owns to residential assets on the Eastside: AMLI Spring District and AMLI Bellevue Park.
As COVID-19 has forced retailers to open and close numerous times, businesses in the Puget Sound have fared decently compared to the rest of the nation, according to data released by Kidder Mathews. Vacancy in King County at the end of the third quarter sat at 2.91 percent and rent growth year-over-year came in at 3.2 percent. However, Kidder Mathews cautions that vacancy is still likely to climb and rents will moderate throughout early 2021 before recovering to pre-pandemic levels.
