Historic Seattle Property Trades for $580M

SEATTLE – Seattle-based, Urban Renaissance Group LLC and KKR have acquired a mixed-use building at 300 Pine St. in downtown Seattle. The property reportedly traded for $580 million, according to Bloomberg.

Situated on a full city block between 3^rd Ave. and 4^th Ave., the 770,000-square-foot, landmark building will undergo extensive renovations.

The renovated eight-story property will feature 85,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 682,000 square feet of office space and a 20,000-square-foot rooftop deck.

Constructed in 1929, the historic, art-deco style building originally served as the Bon Marche department store. The property had four additional stories added in 1955, and between 2015 and 2017, the then-owner, Macy’s sold the property’s top six floors as office space, before the department store closed in 2020.

The property’s new ground-level retail space will we named The Bon Marche Collective, in honor of the building’s history. The leasable retail suites will range from 3,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet.

The renovated property will additionally feature a new 4^th Ave. entrance to access the office space, which is currently fully-leased to a single tenant. The office space features 80,000-square-foot floorplates, 15-foot ceilings, seismic retrofitting and skylights.

The property’s historic building elements, which include dramatic architectural features that originate from the 1920’s-era department stores, will be reinvigorated and will be connected to multiple program elements through a central common area.

“Investing in this historic building marks our fourth investment in the Puget Sound Region,” states Justin Pattner, head of real estate equity in the Americas for KKR. “This is an attractive market poised for long-term growth driven by its strong and growing workforce, attractive cost of living, and simply being a highly desirable place to live with a great quality of life. 300 Pine is an important part of Seattle’s community and we are looking forward to bringing it to its full potential.”

“We believe in the strong potential of unique and iconic buildings that serve large corporate users with long-term leases and we are very excited to invest in 300 Pine as part of our Prime Single Tenant strategy,” says Billy Butcher, COO of KKR’s global real estate business. “We have acquired over ten million square feet of similarly situated buildings recently and the Puget Sound Region has quickly become a large part of that strategy, given our belief in the region’s attractive fundamentals.”

“Originally constructed as a monument to Seattle’s retail strength in the Pacific Northwest, this beautiful historic building remains a symbol of our city’s strength and resilience,” says Patrick Callahan, CEO of Urban Renaissance Group. “We’re thrilled about this transaction with KKR and excited about the future of this building. This acquisition reflects our mutual confidence in the region and specifically in downtown Seattle, where we look forward to strengthening the heart of Seattle’s retail core.”