SEATTLE-Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. has completed the $57.7 million acquisition of an office and retail property known as "Merrill Place" located in downtown Seattle's Pioneer Square submarket, directly adjacent to the Company's First & King property. GlobeSt.com had previously reported that the company had entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the property last month.
Merrill Place consists of four interconnected brick and beam buildings spanning an entire city block and comprising approximately 179,000 square feet of office and ground floor retail, along with a 147-stall standalone parking structure. The property is currently 93% leased with approximately 52% of the leases scheduled to expire over the next four years.
Hudson Pacific Properties intends to implement an extensive repositioning of the property, including lobby and common area upgrades, new tenant amenities, an elevator modernization, and mechanical and electrical upgrades. Additionally, current zoning for the property allows for the potential development of a new office building fronting the soon to be improved Alaskan Way waterfront.
The firm plans to start the entitlement process immediately to allow for delivery of the new office building by 2017. According to Victor J. Coleman, chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific Properties, "This asset is a great complement to our Seattle portfolio and represents a tremendous opportunity to leverage our operational, leasing and development expertise to create value for our shareholders."
According to a Q4 report from Kidder Matthews, the retail market in Seattle continues to improve with moderate positive absorption, new construction, and a strong investment climate for stabilized centers. "Retail development activity remains low as the market slowly re-absorbs excess vacant space and many retailers are reluctant to pay rents that would make new construction feasible. New development remains mostly build-to-suit, or owner/user oriented." Also, according to the firm's report, "mixed-use development in the Seattle and Bellevue urban cores continues to bring new retail space on the ground floors of apartment and office buildings. Much of this is simply complimentary shop space, but in some cases, there are more significant anchor or junior anchor components."
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.