By Kate Snyder
Seattle’s multifamily market continues to be an attractive place for investors.. One recent sale involved a 128-unit apartment complex in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. According to King County public records, 206 Bell Apartments was purchased by an entity affiliated with Weidner Apartment Homes for $37.5 million, or approximately $292,968 per unit. The seller was an entity affiliated with Invesco Real Estate.
The property is located at 206 Bell St. and sits on almost one-third of an acre, property records show. The building was constructed in 2012 and, along with residential space, also includes 5,543 square feet of retail use. The site is located near I-5, I-90 and Highway 99, and nearby businesses include Whole Foods, Dan’s Grocery and Target as well as attractions such as Westlake Center, Pike Place Market, the Space Needle and Olympic Sculpture Park.
The apartment complex offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units with amenities like quartz countertops, custom cabinetry, a breakfast bar and stainless steel appliances, according to the property’s website. Community features are a lounge and rooftop deck as well as garage parking and on-site storage.
Invesco Real Estate is a real estate investment and management company. According to its website, the firm currently has a total of 40 years of investing experience, $89.9 billion real estate assets managed globally and employs 577 professionals across 21 global offices.
Weidner Apartment Homes owns residential properties throughout the United States, according to the firm’s website, including in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. The company also owns multifamily communities in several provinces across Canada.
Seattle has long been a place of interest for renters and multifamily investors. According to a report, “Q4 2022 Apartment Market Dynamics,” released last year by Kidder Mathews, the Puget Sound region has seen in recent months renter demand continue to rise as well as a slowdown in apartment investment sales.
According to the report, in the third quarter of 2022, average rents stood at $1,961 per month, compared to $1,991 per month in the second quarter and $1,870 per month in the third quarter of 2021. Vacancy rates stood at 5.5 percent, 5.4 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively. There were also 103 sales in the third quarter of 2022 and 89 in the second quarter, with 141 sales posted in the third quarter of 2021.
