By Meghan Hall
As available office space and development opportunity in Seattle’s urban core becomes increasingly tight as the market cycle matures, developers, real estate experts and major brand name companies have set their sights on Bellevue, a quickly growing Eastside city just across Lake Washington from Seattle. Tech expansion by major players from Amazon to Facebook into the this submarket has been noticed by large and small developers alike, and a potential development site located at 308 105th Ave. NE., which recently sold to Royal Prestige Real Estate Investments for $6.2 million, may play a role in the city’s growth.
Brokers Ross Klinger and Todd Gauthier from Kidder Mathews represented the sellers, Avery, Avery and Avery LLC, a family-owned company associated with Robert and James Avery, in the off-market transaction. The 13,304 square foot lot garnered roughly $466 per square foot of land, said Kidder Mathews.
“Anything on the west side of Bellevue near the mall is appealing for developers, so yeah, there was a lot of interest,” explained Klinger. “It is downtown urban and high-rise zoning.”
The site is just a few blocks from Bellevue’s downtown park, Interstate 405 and Bellevue Square, a shopping center anchored by Nordstrom and Macy’s. Numerous other eateries and retailers, including Barnes and Noble and 24-Hour Fitness, are also nearby.
With more satellite offices built around town and the expected arrival of the Light Rail in the coming years, the site is well-poised for redevelopment. What the plans are for the future site, Klinger could not speculate. However, the site is permitted for an array of uses, including apartments, condominiums, hotels, office retail and senior living, according to Kidder Mathews. The site is currently developed with a single-story commercial and retail development.
According to Klinger, the wave of development into Bellevue is likely to continue in the future, as growing companies seek larger office space.
“I’ve seen this wave of interest for office moving from Seattle to Bellevue, because you can’t really find big floor plates in Seattle,” explained Klinger. “There is six million square feet of announced projects in the pipeline, so there’s a lot of interest from people. Bellevue is becoming more and more appealing.”
Royal Prestige Real Estate Investments did not return The Registry’s request for comment.
