By Meghan Hall
An office asset just across the street from Lake Union has traded as deal volume around the region begins to recover. In a transaction that closed September 8th, a private trust affiliated with AD 936 N 34th St. LLC acquired the Northlake Plaza office building for $13.7 million, or about $436 per square foot. According to public documents, the seller was 936 North LLC, based in Seattle.
The property is located at 936 N. 34th Street in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Parcel data indicates that the building was constructed in 1984 and totals 31,417 square feet. The asset is well located and is within walking distance of Fremont’s main commercial district, home to the Fremont Sunday Street Market, PCC Community Markets, the Fremont Vintage Mall and numerous eateries such as Manolin and Café Turko. Gas Works park is located nearby, as are the offices of Google and Adobe.
As office sales activity virtually came to a halt during the second quarter as a result of COVID-19, all eyes are on Q3’s fundamentals. The sale of the Northlake Plaza building is one of the few office sales to mark the quarter as property owners and investors still try to navigate the challenges that come with price discovery. A second quarter report released by Kidder Mathews—the most recent currently available—predicts that sales volume in Seattle will remain flat in the near future, even as leasing and construction resumes.
During the second quarter, there were just three office transactions over $10 million that closed: the Farmers Insurance building on Mercer Island, which sold for $46.45 million or $296 per square foot; Building A of the I-90 Corporate Campus in Bellevue for $23.57 million or $316 per square foot; Microsoft’s acquisition of a Redmond data center for $15.35 million, or $216 per square foot. Total sales volume totaled $191.1 million.
