By Kate Snyder
Despite Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood largely being a place of residential sales and development activity, one recent transaction involved a number of property sites, including a car dealership, trading hands in a $25 million deal, according to King County public records. The buyer was listed as an entity affiliated with Swickard Auto Group, a large dealership with locations throughout the country, and the seller was listed as an entity affiliated with Byers Properties, LLC. The sale was recorded on Nov. 11.
The major property in the deal, Volvo Cars Seattle, is a 3,670 square foot showroom located on almost half an acre at 2700 NE 55th St., according to public information. Other addresses included in the sale were 2719 and 2611 NE 55th St.; 2610 NE 54th St.; 5403 27th Ave. NE and 14307 Lake City Way NE, all in Seattle. Volvo Cars Seattle is in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood, and according to Google Maps nearby sites include Ravenna Park, Cowen Park, Bryant Elementary School and the University of Washington.
Swickard Auto Group owns several dealerships in Washington, with locations in Seattle, Edmonds, Bellevue and Bellingham, according to the firm’s website. It also owns dealerships in California, Oregon, Texas and Alaska.
As a primarily residential neighborhood, much of Ravenna’s recent sales and development activity has been in the multifamily market. Earlier this year, the 98-unit Mod Apartments located at 6559 35th Ave. NE were sold for $32.3 million, or about $329,591 per unit, to entities affiliated with Seattle-based InCity Properties. The seller was an entity affiliated with Lynnwood-based SKS Trading Co., according to previous reporting from The Registry.
StoryBuilt, headquartered in Austin, Texas, recently opened a new office in Seattle and among the firm’s projects is a community of 16 boutique townhomes in the heart of Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood. Additionally, a 135-unit project has been proposed for 2315 NE 65th Street by Era Living with designs from Weber Thompson. That planned five-story, 203,000 square foot residential building would take the place of a 72-year-old senior living center that is currently onsite.
