By Jack Stubbs
One of Washington state’s most established and iconic companies—founded in Seattle in 1916—has recently sold two of its commercial properties in Bellevue. With its significant presence often felt throughout the commercial real estate market in the Puget Sound region, The Boeing Company has been active in the market again.
On Tuesday, October 31st, Boeing sold four office buildings in Bellevue for $35.7 million, or roughly $140 per square foot, according to public records filed with King County. The buyer was Chicago, Illinois-based Walton Street Capital, a private real estate investment firm that develops and acquires a variety of asset types including office, hotel, retail, industrial and multifamily. Seattle-based Talon Private Capital is Walton Street Capital’s equity partner in the acquisition.
The four Class B office buildings—Office Buildings 33-11, 33-12, 33-14, 33-15—are located at 3255, 3265, 3156 and 3067 160th Ave SE, totaling 254,000 square feet.
The property is located in the West Lake Sammamish neighborhood, one mile to the south of Phantom Lake. The property lies roughly 6 miles to the southeast of downtown Bellevue via Interstate-90, and is roughly 3 miles from access to Interstate-405. Infosys and Microsoft have offices in the vicinity, as well.
Founded in 1994, Walton Street Capital has invested and/or committed to invest approximately $9 billion of equity in approximately 350 separate transactions in U.S. and international real estate, according to the company’s website, including the development and acquisition of various office, hotel, retail and multifamily assets. For single-asset transactions, the company focuses on three primary strategies, including value creation, value investing and larger U.S. transactions (valued at $100 million and up).
The company also engages in international ventures, prioritizing targeted development, entity recapitalizations, private equity platform investments. Walton Street Capital’s other commercial property in Seattle is the Metropolitan Park East & West, a two-building 709,108 Class A asset in between the South Lake Union and Downtown neighborhoods.
Since its founding in 1916, Boeing has grown to become the world’s largest aerospace company and the largest exporter in the U.S. Today, Boeing is the largest private employer in Washington and currently employs approximately 70,000 people throughout the state, according to the company’s website. Boeing’s Everett Site is regarded as having the largest manufacturing building in the world, producing the 747, 767, 777 and the 787 airplanes over the years, according to the company’s website.
