Wells REIT Targets Northwest for $200M Investment By Year's End

SEATTLE-Having already invested $1 billion so far this year, Wells REIT says it is targeting the Pacific Northwest for $200 million of the $1.5 billion more it plans to spend on class A office product by the end of the year. The largest purchaser of class A office space in 2002 says it plans to invest the money in the Seattle and Portland markets, buying single- and multi-tenant buildings filled with “big-credit” tenants under long-term commitments.

Earlier The investment dollars likely will flow to Seattle first, says Clay Adams, director of northern region acquisitions for the public but untraded REIT. “In Seattle, Microsoft has already announced it will hire several thousand more people,” Adams tells GlobeSt.com, adding that the company will be looking at Dowtown Seattle as well as Eastside markets like Downtown Bellevue.”

In Portland, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, there have been no major new jobs announcements, but Adams says it has good potential thanks to strong firms such as Intel, Nike and IBM Sequent and restraints on new development such as the urban growth boundary and strong environmental laws. “Portland has just started to turn the corner a little bit,” says Adams.