Newmark Knight Frank Announces $305MM Sale of 901 Fifth Office Tower in Seattle

Los Angeles, CA (July 9, 2019) — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has announced it has completed the $305 million sale of 901 Fifth Office Tower, a 41-story, Class A, 541,190-square-foot property located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Madison Street in the core of downtown Seattle’s central business district. 

NKF Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Vice Chairman Nick Kucha, Senior Managing Director Michael Moll and Executive Managing Directors Rob Hannan and Ken White, represented the seller, a partnership of Schnitzer West and INVESTCORP. The buyer was Vanbarton Group, a privately owned, vertically integrated real estate investment and advisory firm with corporate offices in New York and San Francisco, and was represented by HFF. 

901 Fifth Office Tower encompasses nearly a full city block and is fully occupied by more than 40 tenants including Pitchbook, Cray, Inc., and Milliman Care Guidelines, LLC. Approximately 18 months ago, the property underwent a transformative, $4.6 million lobby renovation, which was significant to bolstering its competitive position in the local market. 

“Seattle is one of the country’s most coveted office markets for institutional capital, as a result, this asset achieved a significant amount of interest from both national and international firms,” said Shannon. “Vanbarton has followed the tremendous improvement of fundamentals in Seattle and made it a target market, with 901 Fifth representing its first acquisition.” 

901 Fifth is LEED Platinum certified and features upgraded state-of-the-art building systems, valet parking and on-site amenities including a fitness center, conference rooms, coffee shop/deli,  landscaped outdoor plaza with seating and WiFi, and direct access to a full-service Bartell Drugstore. The asset also offers views of the city, Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains, and Mount Rainier, is one block from the Interstate 5 and provides easy access to the ferries, light rail and mass transit.   

Schnitzer West, LLC is one of the West Coast’s fastest growing real estate investment, development and property management companies. Founded in 1997 by managing investment partner Dan Ivanoff of Seattle and Schnitzer Investment Corp (now MMGL Corp.), the company has built a successful track record in the commercial and multi-family housing markets through product innovation, disciplined management and investment expertise. Known for its commitment to “Outperform the Expected,” Schnitzer West has earned recognition for creating innovative workplaces and living spaces, for delivering superior-to-market returns, and for its value-creation approach to property management. To date, it has developed in excess of 10.5 million square feet of Class A office and suburban office, flex, industrial and bio-tech space and luxury multi-family residential in Seattle and Denver. Additionally, it has acquired and repositioned approximately 2.8 million square feet of commercial product. Currently, its Asset Operations group actively manages 5.4 million square feet of office and industrial property for a variety of clients. Building on its success in the Northwest, Schnitzer West owns additional properties in Denver and is exploring new market opportunities across the Western United States. Learn more at www.schnitzerwest.com.   

Investcorp is a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products and is publicly traded on the Bahrain Bourse (INVCORP). The Investcorp Group has offices in New York, Bahrain, London, Saudi Arabia, Doha and Abu Dhabi. Investcorp has three business areas: corporate investment in the U.S., Europe and the Gulf, real estate investment in the U.S and global hedge funds. As at December 31, 2015, the Investcorp Group had $10.7 billion in total assets under management (‘AUM’), including assets managed by third party managers and assets subject to a non-discretionary mandate where Investcorp receives fees calculated on the basis of AUM. Further information, including our most recent periodic financial statements, which details our assets under management, is available at www.investcorp.com.   

About Newmark Knight Frank
Newmark Knight Frank (“NKF”), operated by Newmark Group, Inc. (“Newmark Group”) (NASDAQ: NMRK), is one of the world’s leading and most trusted commercial real estate advisory firms, offering a complete suite of services and products for both owners and occupiers. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NKF’s 16,000 professionals operate from approximately 430 offices on six continents. NKF’s investor/owner services and products include investment sales, agency leasing, property management, valuation and advisory, diligence, underwriting, government-sponsored enterprise lending, loan servicing, debt and structured finance and loan sales. Occupier services and products include tenant representation, real estate management technology systems, workplace and occupancy strategy, global corporate services consulting, project management, lease administration and facilities management. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.