160,000-SF Seattle Tower Fetches $19M

SEATTLE-Landmark Joint Venture of Boston has sold the 160,000-sf Seattle Tower for about $19 million. Completed in 1928, the historic 27-story office building is a little over 80% occupied. The new owner is a joint venture of Bellevue-based Trinity Real Estate and Helix Investment Partners.

Trinity principal Richard Leider tells GlobeSt.com that his company submitted an offer along with a number of other offers when the property came to market last December and made it to the second round, but not as the preferred buyer. “When the buyer in first position was not able to complete the deal, we continued to pursue it,” he says. “In this particular case our capital partner [Helix] has a good relationship with the seller.”The JV plans to invest $2 million in upgrades to the art deco building, stabilize occupancy and hold it for five to seven years while pushing effective full service rental rates, says Leider. Current advertised rates for available space are $19 to $22 per sf on a full-service basis. “Rollover during the next couple of years is in the single digits,” says Leider. “There’s moderate rollover in year three, but that bodes well for the building’s overall investment profile.”Improvements to Seattle Tower will include structural and seismic repairs and upgrades, completion of exterior masonry work, elevator shaft improvements, improved interior and exterior lighting and other aesthetic enhancements in common areas on all floors. Upgrades are expected to be complete by the middle of next year.Existing tenants in the building include design firm Leonhardt Fitch and the street-level sales and retail gallery of the Seattle Art Museum. Trinity will take over operations and retain the current on-site manager. CB Richard Ellis has the leasing assignment. Seattle Tower is the second purchase of the year for Trinity. Leider says the company anticipates acquiring two to three assets in the Pacific Northwest every year, with a focus on properties that will benefit from additional capital and “focused management.”Trinity principals Leider and Mike Shields worked together at Spieker Properties and Equity Office prior to forming Trinity. Leider is the 2005 incoming chair of the Bellevue Downtown Association. He was 2003 president of the Washington chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and serves on their local and national boards.