By Jack Stubbs
Washington Holdings, a locally-based real estate developer, on Monday May 14th acquired two soon-to-close grocery stories in North Seattle for a combined $16.52 million, according to public records filed with King County. Washington Holdings, a company that acquires, develops and manages real estate investments throughout the Western U.S., purchased the two properties—an Albertsons in Bitter Lake and a Safeway in Greenwood—from Pleasanton, California-based Safeway. The transactions were recorded on May 17th.
The Safeway store, located at 8704 Greenwood Ave. N., was built in 2003 and totals 50,734 square feet, according to public documents. The Class C building sits on 1.9 acres and also includes an associated parking lot. The Albertsons, located at 13000 Aurora Ave. N., was built in 1997 and totals 50,083 square feet.
According to Ben Margoles, executive vice president at Washington Holdings, the company has plans to redevelop the property. The company is in the early planning stages for the Safeway in Greenwood, but will likely focus on a mixed-use project with neighborhood-oriented retail and apartments/housing. Washington Holdings expects to potentially re-tenant the Albertsons property or sell as-is.
On May 14th, Safeway and Albertsons announced that they would be closing the two stores in the coming weeks on June 16th. “Despite the best efforts of the store teams, we have been unable to re-position these stores to be profitable, and following an extensive review, we have made the difficult decision to close the stores and sell the property,” a news release said.
Washington Holdings targets a variety of property types—including hospitality, multifamily, R&D and industrial—in greater Seattle and other major west coast markets, according to the company’s web site. The company invests directly as well as in joint-venture arrangements with other developers.
Washington Holdings is the manager of Union Square in downtown Seattle, a two-tower office campus that totals over 1.7 million rentable square feet and also includes a 1,100-stall parking garage and a three-story urban retail plaza. Some of the company’s multifamily properties include the Henry, a 5-story, 100-unit property located in North Queen Anne; The Hayes on Stone Way, a 124-unit property in Fremont; and The Carter on the Park, a 180-unit asset in downtown Redmond.
