Kemper Acquiring Majority Stake in $360M Lincoln Square Project

BELLEVUE, WA-Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, on behalf of its Value Enhancement Fund IV, has agreed to sell its majority stake in the stalled Lincoln Square development in Downtown Bellevue to locally based Kemper Development Company, owner of the adjacent Bellevue Place and Bellevue Square properties.

If the deal closes as expected this summer, Kemper will assume total control of the 1.4 million-sf, mixed use project considered one of the largest mixed-use projects in the nation. The estimated $360-million project includes a 40-story hotel and condo tower, 333,000 sf of retail, a 27-story office building and an underground parking garage for 2,142 vehicles that is largely complete. The project got underway in 2000 and was halted in mid-2002 because of the economic downturn, leaving a hole in the heart of the city.

“Our company is uniquely qualified to develop this mixed-use site because of our extensive retail, office and hotel experience in this market, and our ability to coordinate the activities at Lincoln Square with those at our other properties,” says Kemper Freeman Jr., Chairman and CEO of Kemper Development. “We understand what a project of this magnitude requires and are prepared to take on the challenge.”