818 Stewart St.

SEATTLE-J.P. Morgan Asset Management has acquired two office buildings totaling 900,459 square feet at 818 Stewart St. and 1918 Eighth Ave. from Schnitzer West in the largest office sale on the West Coast this year. Kevin Shannon, a CB Richard Ellis vice chairman who led a CBRE team that represented Schnitzer West in the sale, tells GlobeSt.com that the deal, at $533 per square foot for the two buildings combined, reflects both the quality of the assets and the strength of the Seattle office market, which he describes as one of a number of tech-led office markets on the West Coast that are improving quickly.

“These are the two nicest, newest multi-tenant buildings in Downtown Seattle, with some great tenants,” Shannon says. He points out that only 10 new office buildings have been built in the city in the past 10 years, and the two Schnitzer West buildings that sold are “best-in-class,” which means that they will establish the market for top-quality office buildings in Seattle. “If you have a core deal in Seattle, you're going to be looking at this deal to see where pricing is on core, trophy assets,” the CBRE vice chairman says.

1918 Eighth Ave.