Zurich, Switzerland-based global asset manager and investor, UBS, sold off an apartment asset that it owned in Bellevue for the last fifteen years for $90,750,000, or $493,478 per unit, according to public records. The buyer of the 184-unit Park in Bellevue apartments located at 1515 Bellevue Way NE, was an entity associated with Bellevue-based Continental Properties, a Puget Sound residential development company that has been in the business since 1977.
The Park in Bellevue apartments is a garden-type community that is spread across several two story buildings developed in 1985. The property features a year-round pool and sheltered spa, as well as a comfortable resident lounge, according to the property’s web site. The apartment complex is located northwest of Bellevue’s downtown core, and it is just blocks from all the amenities and office properties that dot the Puget Sound’s Eastside city.
UBS has owned this property since May of 2003, when it paid $20.8 million for it at the time. Since then, Bellevue’s downtown has grown exponentially, and it represents an opportunity for the new owners to be part of a growing community in one of the most important cities of the region.
The sale follows another significant transaction in the city. Just weeks ago, Seattle-based Security Properties sold off its 309-unit Sparc Apartments located in Bellevue’s Spring District for $150 million, or $485,436 per unit. This property is much newer, and it was only recently opened about 18 months ago. The buyer of that asset was an entity associated with Siegfried A. Fischer, the Chief Executive Officer of AGI Publishing of Fresno, Calif., also known as Valley Yellow Pages, which publishes and delivers directories to households and businesses in Northern and Central California.
But most significantly, Bellevue has been on the radar of several growing companies in the region, which have announced plans to expand their presence in the city. Amazon, which has traditionally had its home across Lake Washington in Seattle has been growing by leaps and bounds in Bellevue. The global technology firm recently signed a a lease that would take the entire 17-story, 377,000 square foot, Summit III building developed by international real estate firm Hines Global REIT located at 320 108th Ave. N.E. This follows an earlier announcement by the company to take the 440,000 square-foot Expedia Building, also known as Tower 333, a 20-story property in Bellevue’s central business district.
Along with Amazon, another technology giant, Mountain View, Calif.-based Facebook announced that it would be taking 85,000 square feet in Bellevue across two buildings owned by Kilroy Realty, the Key Center, located at 601 108th Ave. NE, and the Skyline Tower, located at 10900 NE 4th St.
