Selig Refinances Fourth & Blanchard Building

SEATTLE-Local developer Martin Selig has refinanced the Fourth & Blanchard Building, a 25-story CBD office building with about 400,000 sf of rentable space that is currently about 80% leased. Selig Real Estate Holdings Five LLC used a $67-million fixed-rate loan from JP Morgan to pay off a two-year-old, $56.6-million adjustable rate loan from Bear Stearns.GMAC Commercial Mortgage, which sourced the loan, declined comment on the term and rate of the loan; however, sources familiar with the transaction tell GlobeSt.com it was a 10-year loan for which the rate was locked in April, when the 10-year Treasury was somewhere between 4.3% and 4.7%. The typical spread for a CBD office financing is 110-130 basis points, depending on leverage.A source at GMAC did tell GlobeSt.com that Selig paid a penalty in order to pre-pay the Bear Stearns loan. A source at LJ Melody, which sourced the Bear Stearns loan, described the penalty as “modest.” Martin Selig declined comment. Located at 2101 Fourth Ave., the Fourth & Blanchard Building has 397,878 sf of rentable space, of which 76,173 sf is currently vacant and directly available for lease. Another 47,878 sf is being marketed for sublease by various parties, according to the listing service.Last month, the Washington State Bar Association, which leases 34,000 sf in the building, signed a 10-year lease for 41,000-sf of Downtown office space at Puget Sound Plaza. The WSBA will be leaving the Fourth & Blanchard Building to occupy that space, but not until its lease expires at the end of 2006. Other significant tenants at Fourth & Blanchard include First American Title, Kemper Insurance and Metropolitan Travel.