By Jack Stubbs
There has been significant commercial activity occurring in Bellevue in recent months, and a company based in the Bay Area recently acquired a three-parcel property—which could be slated for future development—earlier this week.
The San Francisco-based hotel developer Stanford Hotels Group acquired on March 19th three parcels in downtown Bellevue for a combined $128 million, according to public records filed with King County. The three-parcel property currently includes a parking lot, a two-story office building and the First Congressional Church.
The seller of the three parcels was Plus Investment USA, Inc., an entity affiliated with Plus Capital Partners, a Seattle-based real estate investment company. The transaction for the three properties was recorded on March 21st.
Neither the buyer nor the seller responded to calls or emails for comment about the transaction in time for the publishing of this story.
It is not yet clear what plans Stanford Hotels has for the recently-acquired parcels. However, according to a project description on Plus Investment USA’s web site, Plus Investment has plans in the works to develop a luxury, mixed-use 4-tower project called Elev8—located at the same address as the parking lot—that will include 350 condos, 423 apartment units, and 1,698 parking stalls.
The project, designed by MZA Architects, will also include Class A office space, a five-star hotel, retail space and urban pocket parks. According to the web site, “the project will bring a massive half-block transformation to what is currently the Griffin surface parking lot, a church building, and the Yuen Lui Photography building.” Plus Investment USA submitted preliminary project plans to the city of Bellevue in early March 2016.
The first property is a parking lot operated by Republic Parking, according to Google maps. The lot, located at 10833 NE 8th St., totals 109,032 square feet of land and covers roughly 2.5 acres, according to public documents. The second structure is a two-story office building built in 1965 that totals 15,108 square feet. The Class C property, located at 700 108th Ave. NE, is currently occupied by Eiscc, a homeless shelter, and Canycom USA, Inc. a manufacturer of agriculture and building products, according to Google Maps. The third building, located adjacent to the office building at 752 108th Ave., is the 2-story First Congressional Church, which was built in 1952 and totals 26,458 square feet, according to public documents.
The purchased lots, located in the heart of Bellevue’s Central Business District, are less than a mile from the Bellevue Square Shopping Center and the Bellevue Downtown Park. Additionally, the properties are two blocks from the Meydenbauer Convention Center and less than half a mile from access to Interstate-405. The property is also across the street from The Shops at Bravern, a shopping center that includes various upscale retailers including Neiman Marcus. The site is also adjacent to the Symetra Financial Center.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Stanford Hotels owns and operates hotel properties throughout the country, according to the company’s web site. The company’s development and management style allows it to focus on high-profile, full-service franchise brands—including Hilton, Marriott and Starwood, among others—and the company also has long-standing relationships with financial institutions like HSBC and Wells Fargo, according to its web site.
Stanford Hotels has properties throughout California in Santa Clara, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, among other locations.
The company also has a significant project in the works in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood: on February 15th, construction began on the 283-room Amazon Headquarters Campus Hotel, which is located at 300 Terry Ave. North, adjacent to the tech giant’s South Lake Union headquarters and just six blocks to the south of Lake Union. Construction on the 15-story project—which will also include a 7,500 square foot conference center; a 2,600 square foot hotel lobby/lounge; a 3,200 square foot restaurant; and a 1,000 square foot concierge lounge—is slated to be complete in 22 months, according to a representative from Mortensen Construction, who is also on the project team.
Plus Capital Partners is a Seattle-based real estate investment company that focuses on creating profitable investments through responsible development and management of real property, according to the company’s web site.
Plus Investment, Ltd. directs and manages U.S. investments for Plus Investment Holding Group, an international investment services company that owns and operates companies with a primary focus on servicing China’s rapidly growing luxury marketplace. It is involved in global capital management, finance, aviation acquisition and leasing, and real estate development, including the first Sotheby’s International Realty franchise in China, which is a vital part of their new luxury lifestyle platform, according to the company’s web site.
