Amazon.com-Occupied Office Tower Trades Hands, Expands in Denny Triangle

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Amazon.com is the bona fide engine of Seattle’s office market. If evidence of that fact up until this point is still deemed unconvincing, just take a look at the recent Amazon-involved headlines. West 8^th, the online giant’s new residence was recently purchased in a deal, which according to public records stood at around $278 million. The entity that acquired the office property is associated with AEW Capital Management, a Boston-based company that deals with institutional and private investment.

The 28-story building is located at the corner of 8^th Avenue and Virginia Street in downtown Seattle. Completed in 2009, the construction was previously owned by local company Touchstone Corp. alongside Prudential Real Estate Investors. After a couple of rough years during which the building failed to secure a major tenant and lay mostly unoccupied, Amazon finally snapped up most of the available space.  

In more Amazon-related news, the tech company has seen its plans for the proposed Denny Triangle campus approved by city planners recently. No less than three million square feet of office space are to be built in the area through six high-rise buildings with heights of up to 38 stories. The project also calls for a meeting center to be built including a 2,000-seat hall, retail venues, parking facilities to accommodate most of the employees, transportation improvements for the area, dog areas and garden terraces, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted.

Amazon is not finished with the plan yet, as the approval is still available for public appeal and changes recommended by the Design Review Board. The company has included a number of measures that it will support to avoid overcrowding the area with its development. These measures include: a third streetcar, $50,000/block for signal timing modifications, the reduction of single-occupant car use to no more than 21 percent of cars driving to the site during rush hours.

Photo courtesy of west8th.com 

Rendering courtesy of djc.com

South Lake Union Set for Rezoning Overhaul

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

South Lake Union is growing at a frantic pace. Some developers are pitching office high-rises in hopes of scoring one of the big names that are constantly circling the neighborhood’s available office space, while others are proposing the next young-professional-oriented multifamily building. However, growth must be sustainable, and there are some skeptics that believe that the boom should be controlled and harnessed in a way that would prevent a possible new market breakdown. Vulcan Realty is not among those skeptics.

The company is proposing three high-rises close to the shore of Salt Lake Union. The Paul Allen-controlled entity claims that view corridors would be enhanced by the building of the 24-story-tall buildings, although there are people who oppose the project, claiming it would damage the aesthetic of the neighborhood, should the signature views of the lake be obstructed. The city is currently in talks to get a rezoning plan for South Lake Union that would allow the construction of 40-story towers in the area. However, Vulcan was hoping to be able to develop three 240-foot-tall towers near the shores of Lake Union in exchange for land and its contribution to important public benefit works.

Essentially, should its proposal be approved by the city council, Vulcan will hand over 37,600 square feet to the project called Real Investment in Social Equity that would get the area between Mercer and Republican streets affordable housing units, childcare services and a community kitchen. The 1.5 acres of land the city is hoping to amass for the initiative include 17,000 square feet of already owned land and another 12,000 square feet currently under private ownership. According to Vulcan Realty, the land the city would be getting is valued at around $10 million.

Rendering courtesy of djc.com

Seattle’s Booming Office Market Prompts Developers to Dive In Head First

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The local office market has seen a number of blockbuster transactions this year, illustrating high interest in what Seattle has to offer. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be enough space to go around, and developers like Skanska USA are currently considering speculative construction, Skanska on its 400 Fairview Ave. N. project. Seattle’s uptick in rents and vacancy drop have created an environment that could argue in favor of such a move, The Puget Sound Business Journal reports.

The South Lake Union office project would call for a 12.5-story building to be constructed on Fairview Avenue N. The structure would offer about 350,000 square feet of prime commercial office space in one of the fastest-growing tech neighborhoods in the entire country. However, the large development would have to wait for some zoning changes, and the city has been trying to redefine the building guidelines for the area for close to a year now. The first quarter of 2013 should be the deadline for the zoning changes; should the company decide to proceed with development, it has the possibility of applying for a text amendment that would allow it to build such a large project.

The 400 Fairview development was designed by SkB Architects and includes a top-floor private deck that could be used for corporate events with food and drink. The ground-level “Market Hall” would include a number of small retail spaces, while a multi-entry hall could be available for client greetings and tenant gatherings.

Image courtesy of skanskahub.com

The Hilton Portland and Executive Tower Sells as City Contemplates Beefing Up Its Hospitality Figures

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

A Chicago-based investor has recently acquired The Hilton Portland and Executive Tower, the Portland Business Journal reports. The transaction is speculated to be worth approximately $100 million, which is not a staggering amount, considering the fact that the property is the city’s largest hotel. In fact, the per-room sale price comes in at about $128,000, less than half of what it costs to develop a hotel room in downtown Portland. The party buying the Portland Hilton is a partnership created by Chicago-based companies Walton Street Capital and Lodging Capital Partners L.L.C.

The Hilton is a 782-key property located in downtown Portland, at 921 S.W. Sixth Ave., and is also the largest property of its kind in the entire state of Oregon. It offers guests a variety of rooms, ranging from the more affordable Accessible Rooms and Guest Rooms to the upper-tier Suites and Executive Rooms. Executive Rooms offer guests 20th-floor views, business desks, 37-inch flat panel TVs and leather recliner chairs, as well as a complete office package including a printer/copier/fax/scanner unit. Additionally, the hotel offers 66,000 square feet of versatile meeting space, including 30 function rooms operating with expert staff. Dining options include the on-site Bistro 921, an informal, American-themed eating spot, as well as the Italian-branded Porto Terra Tuscan Bar and Grill. Pool and fitness facilities are also provided courtesy of the full service Hilton Athletic Club, while the 24-hour business center offers free high-speed Internet access.

According to the Portland Business Journal, the sale of The Hilton Portland could spur on talks of developing a new Hyatt Regency-branded facility near the Oregon Convention Center. This would provide a considerable bump in the amount of available rooms the city has to offer, while also encouraging larger events to come to the emerging city.

Image courtesy of hilton.com

1201 Third Ave. Tower Nears Deal

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Seattle has seen its fair share of massive office deals this year, with the most prominent of them the acquisition of the Russell Investments Building and Amazon.com’s move to buy its office campus from Vulcan Real Estate. Next on the list is the 1201 Third Ave. tower downtown. Estimates from real estate professionals have placed the eventual transaction value at around $500 million, but new reports have the building trading more in the $550 million range.

According to “Real Estate Alert” and the Puget Sound Business Journal, a partnership of insurance giant MetLife and real estate investment management company Clarion Partners is now vying for the property, as is Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec’s real estate unit, Ivanhoe Cambridge.

The seller is Boston-based Beacon Capital. The 55-story building offers up 1.1 million square feet of space, 20 percent of which is currently vacant. No reports on the status of the deal have transpired yet, but the increasing buzz clearly indicates that the completion is growing closer.

1201 Third Ave. is one of four properties that Beacon Capital has put up for sale in the greater Seattle area. The other three have been bundled together as a single deal and include U.S. Bank Plaza, Plaza East and Plaza Center, all in nearby Bellevue. They were acquired by the company in 2007 as part of a 42-building portfolio acquisition. Beacon paid $6.4 billion to Blackstone to secure the massive office portfolio.

Government Building LEEDs Through Example

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The U.S. government has made a push to get developers to build in a more environmentally friendly manner. Its most effective effort might be leading by example, the latest being the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District Headquarters’ recently unveiled new home just south of downtown Seattle. Dubbed Federal Center South, the highly efficient new workspace includes a number of eco-friendly technologies that will improve the building’s energy consumption, as well as provide a cleaner environment for its residents.

Built by a team comprising design company ZGF Architects and developer Sellen Construction using funds provided through the Recovery Act, the building ushers in a new era of government properties. The $72 million office building offering up 209,000 square feet of space seems on track to achieve an Energy Star efficiency score of 100, a distinction only 1 percent of comparable U.S. buildings can claim. The building is also set to be awarded Gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the GSA’s newly constructed facility employs technologies and processes such as the extensive use of sunlight throughout the building, low-impact landscaping and rainwater filtered through a collection system that can handle as much as 25,000 gallons, which can be used for irrigation, cooling and the sanitation system. Geothermal energy wells loop water for both cooling and heating at depths of 150 feet, while thermal storage collects cold energy for future use in chilled beams that are part of the office space. Efficient HVAC uses under-floor air distribution. The construction process made use of salvaged materials from a nearby decommissioned warehouse, including 200,000 board feet of structural timber, 100,000 board feet of wood decking, as well as vertical stainless steel shingles. Ninety-nine percent of the construction waste was recycled.

Photo courtesy of the General Services Administration’s official facebook page at facebook.com/GSA.

Amazon.com Set to Break Records with Purchase of HQ from Vulcan

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

In a long-anticipated deal, Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, finally acquired its 11-building headquarters in Seattle from owner Vulcan Real Estate. The Paul Allen-controlled investment company received a whopping $1.2 billion for the property, placing the transaction in a single-horse race for the title of the year’s largest U.S. office transaction.

Amazon.com moved to acquire its 1.8 million-square-foot HQ in the coveted South Lake Union area of Seattle in a time in which both office and multifamily projects are multiplying in the area. Bloomberg.com reported that Amazon has submitted a nonrefundable deposit worth $23 million, which will increase by the end of October, bringing its total value to $51 million. The transaction should be finalized by the end of the fourth quarter of this year or the deposit will be forfeited. The injection of capital Vulcan will receive through this deal will be used for other projects the company has in South Lake Union, as well as the other five urban centers designated back in 2004 by local officials: Downtown, Uptown, Northgate, First Hill – Capitol Hill and the University District, each with their own subdivisions.

When completed, the massive office deal will not only provide Seattle with a spot on all of the commercial real estate reports but also give the state a considerable tax windfall. Should the deal be completed by the end of the year, Washington would receive $14.8 million in real estate excise taxes, while the city of Seattle would get $5.8 million, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. Amazon.com will also generate revenue to the city and state through its upcoming acquisitions of land in the Denny Triangle area, as well as completing a deal to fully lease the under-development 202 Westlake office building.

Image courtesy of user Valerie Craig (Val Ann) via Flickr

Booming Residential Markets Ignite Portland, Seattle Multifamily Sales

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Two residential properties recently traded hands in the Pacific Northwest, totaling $88 million and intensifying speculation that Seattle and Portland are both about to experience apartment booms. An improving business environment spurred by corporate residents such as Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com combined with the larger notoriety major cities such as Seattle and Portland have gained recently have created an imminent growth in housing needs. The institutional-quality residential properties were purchased by investors working with CBRE Group Inc.’s Seattle multi-housing team.

An unnamed institutional investor acquired Lakemont Orchard, a 201-unit residential complex in Issaquah, Wash., for the total of $39.5 million. The apartment complex is located along the I-90 corridor between Bellevue and Issaquah and offers residents an amenity package that includes an outdoor swimming pool, fitness facilities, a club room and a business center. Tenants enjoy close proximity to local businesses including Costco, T-Mobile and Siemens. The per-unit rate the new owner paid seller Invesco comes in at around $196,510.

The other deal making waves in the Pacific Northwest’s residential market was the purchase of the Axcess 15 apartment community in Portland. Sold by Holland Residential to Waterton Residential for $48.6 million, the 202-unit property is one of the city’s highest-rated mid-rise residential complexes. Located in the vicinity of the massive Lloyd Center retail complex, as well as Portland’s MAX light-rail transportation system, Axcess offers residents a strong location in one of the United States’ emerging cities.

Image courtesy of apartmentguide.com

Seattle Property Sales Promise New Prices Records

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The sale of Seattle’s Russell Investments Center earlier this year scored a $480 million jackpot, but the city is already expecting that record to be blown out of the water. One of the city’s most iconic skyscrapers is now on the market and ready to charge a premium around the $500 million mark.

1201 Third Ave., known as Washington Mutual Tower for the better part of its existence, at 55 stories is the second-tallest building to grace Seattle’s skyline, only outmatched by the circa 1985 Columbia Center.

The 772-foot skyscraper was completed in 1988 by local developer Wright Runstad, which continues to co-own the property. Its partners are San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties and Beacon Capital Partners out of Boston.

When Beacon Capital bought its stake in 2007, an appraiser valued the property at $379 million. However, it is currently pegged at $540 million, according to the Seattle Times. Beacon currently owns the majority interest and is looking to offload not only that property but also three smaller ones in nearby Bellevue, the Times noted. Eastdil Secured will be handling the sale.

Also on track to break commercial real estate records is the 11-building Amazon.com complex in South Lake Union, which owner Vulcan Real Estate put up for sale earlier this month, according to a report on CPExecutive.com, with expectations that it will sell as a whole or in parts by the end of the year. The Times noted the property could fetch around $1 billion and that Amazon itself could be a buyer, given its recent history of investing in its properties.

Sale prices this year are bouncing back from a low in 2011, according to data from Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, even nearing 2010’s per-square-foot average. Deals like Amazon’s or 1201 Third Ave. will likely improve that figure.

Chart provided by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services at marcusmillichap.com 

Image courtesy of pnwarchitecture.com

Woodinville Apartment Complex Latest Addition to Grosvenor’s Value-Add Portfolio

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Grosvenor Americas recently announced the acquisition of the Waterford Place Apartments in Seattle’s Woodinville suburb for $58.4 million. The property group will now pursue a substantial property renovation to add value to the newest member of its portfolio. Upgrades are deemed necessary for most of the community’s amenities, such as its on-site clubhouse, landscaping and signage, as well as the complex’s apartment interiors.

Waterford Place Apartments is an 18-acre residential property featuring about 360 apartment homes in 17 three-story apartment buildings. In addition to the single-story clubhouse, amenities include two swimming pools, an indoor spa, a fitness facility, a tennis court and a barbecue area. Parking includes surface lots, garages and carports that can accommodate a total of 637 spaces.

Located in close proximity to Interstate 405 and Highway 522, the community benefits from easy access to Seattle’s much talked-about downtown area, as well as high-interest job communities such as the Microsoft-dominated Redmond, the Bothell technology corridor and Boeing’s assembly facility in nearby Everett.

According to Grosvenor Americas’ senior vice president of investments, James Delmotte, “the acquisition of Waterford Place continues to meet our strategic objective of building a portfolio of value-add rental properties in the Puget Sound region.” Grosvenor is a privately owned property group with offices in 18 different cities across the world. The company invests directly in real estate through divisions in Britain and Ireland, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, and indirectly in real estate managed by others and through international fund management via subsidiary Grosvenor Fund Management.

Photo courtesy of grosvenor.com 

Wood Partners to Begin Construction on New Apartment Building

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Nationwide multifamily developer Wood Partners announced construction on its latest Seattle-area apartment building is set to begin. The company will develop a 27-story residential complex at 225 Cedar St. in Belltown. The dining- and entertainment-heavy district is a suitable venue for the multifamily project, which aims to attract workers in the city’s booming South Lake Union neighborhood. Wood Partners is a national real estate company dealing with the acquisition, development and management of mixed-use communities across the United States.

Dubbed The Third and Cedar, the apartment community would offer potential buyers a home in an area bearing “a palpable vibe that should attract young, technologically oriented professionals to the many outstanding employees in the area,” according to Wood Partners vice president of development for the Pacific Northwest Steve Orser. Located in very close proximity to the world-famous Space Needle, the project is also within walking distance of the SLU and Queen Anne neighborhoods. The Third and Cedar is also close to Amazon’s upcoming three-tower headquarters.

The 27-story apartment community will total 298 residential units that will offer an average of 660 square feet. Floor plans will range from classic studio to urban and traditional one- and two-bedroom apartments, according to information from the company’s Web site. Built-in storage will offer space efficiency to the apartments, whose rent rates are set to be very attractive. Six levels of underground parking will ensure enough space for 200 cars, while additional amenities include a fitness facility and a roof deck with fire pit and gas barbecue grills, as well as a residents lounge offering views of the city’s skyline and Puget Sound.

Multifamily construction is set to see a positive 2012, with data from  Marcus & Millichap indicating that multifamily permitting is on the rise, even matching the levels it saw in 2008, while completions will most likely more than double 2011’s tally.

Chart courtesy of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services at marcusmillichap.com

440-Foot Tower Proposed for Seattle

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Seattle city planners have recently been forwarded plans for a brand-new 440-foot tower that would be developed at the corner of Second Avenue and Stewart Street. With permit applications yet to be filed, there are no major details on the project. However, The Seattle Times has released a number of tidbits regarding the possible high-rise.

Buildings at the proposed site are currently owned by Iowa-based insurance and financial services company Principal Financial Group. The company bought the 10-story Broadacres Building and the MJA Building in 2007 from a local family-owned operation, although it is uncertain whether the Broadacres building is included in the proposed tower plan, the Times noted. Both of the aforementioned buildings are currently managed by KG Investment Management, from Bellevue.

Reportedly, the unnamed project will stand 38 stories tall. The top 27 stories will serve as a condominium/apartment building totaling 367 units. The lower floors will operate as a hotel property, with parking provided in a five-level underground structure. According to the Department of Planning and Development, the office has received no permit applications to indicate any further details.

The area is a high-rise development sweet spot, the Times noted, with a number of projects either completed or still in various phases of development. Among them are the 24-story Viktoria Apartments, currently under construction, and Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 38-story building completed in 2008, just after the beginning of the downturn. Some projects have been less fortunate, among them 1 Hotel & Residences, a luxury tower that ended up as a parking lot located in the vicinity of the MJA Building.

Image courtesy of Google Maps 

American Assets Set to Snap Up City Center Bellevue in Deal Worth $229M

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

City Center Bellevue is the object of the latest large office property purchase in the greater Seattle area, after American Assets Trust Inc. made a grab for the high-rise building. The full-service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust is reportedly set to acquire the downtown property for a sum that stands at approximately $229 million. The transaction would be financed partially with cash and partially with funds drawn against American Assets’ existing credit facility. The property will be used by American Assets in a mortgage financing deal immediately after closing the deal.

City Center Bellevue is a 27-story office tower offering around 497,000 square feet of leasable space in the center of Bellevue’s business district. Located at 500 108th Ave. N.E., the skyscraper offers views of nearby Mount Rainier, Lake Washington, as well as Seattle’s skyline and other notable scenery such as the Olympic Mountains. The location also provides the building’s tenants with easy access to nearby amenities, including the area’s public transportation system and freeway proximity.

According to the buyer, the building will have a 92 percent occupancy rate when the sale is completed. Current tenants include names such as Caradigm, HDR Engineering Inc., Intellus Inc., Sucker Punch Productions L.L.C., Global Scholar Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Morgan Stanley. In a statement about the project, American Assets’ president & CEO noted that Bellevue “has been a target investment region for the company and its predecessor for many years.” Further details on the deal cannot be released until its confirmed completion; however, the transaction is reported to be structured to accommodate a possible tax-deferred exchange under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and applicable state revenue and taxation code sections.

The greater Seattle area has seen some improvement in the way office space reaches the market and then gets absorbed by tenants. Although the amount of space that now gets completed has clearly decreased, 2012 should see a strong conversion rate by year’s end, as Marcus & Millichap predicted at the end of 2011′s fourth quarter. The vacancy rate is also on a steady downward curve.

Chart courtesy of marcusmillichap.com

Photo courtesy of user Rsocol via Wikimedia Commons

Kilroy Continues Washington State Spending Spree with Bellevue’s Skyline Tower

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Kilroy Realty Corp. is carrying on with its massive Northwestern assault in terms of spending. The well-known real estate investment trust recently announced the acquisition of a downtown Bellevue office tower known as Skyline Tower. The Los Angeles-based firm paid a reported $186.9 million to Skyline owner Beacon Capital Partners, a private real estate investment firm that specializes in high-quality office properties.

Kilroy recently announced that its value-add office building pursuit is going smoothly in the western part of the U.S. with the acquisition of not only Skyline Tower but also a San Francisco office development site. As part of the buy, KRC has assumed an in-place mortgage of approximately $84 million. According to information released by the company, the loan bears interest at a rate of 6.37% and matures on April 1, 2013.

Skyline Tower is a 24-story, Class A office property offering 417,000 square feet of space in one of Washington’s most coveted communities. The presence of Microsoft’s world HQ there has attracted a bevy of tech tenants to the area over the years, and Amazon.com’s more recent aggressive expansion plan in downtown Seattle has confirmed the tech sweet spot status that the city, along with its greater metropolitan area, possesses. The property is LEED Silver certified and benefits from a setting that offers close proximity to Bellevue’s growing retail and residential neighborhoods. It bears a 92 percent occupancy rate with gaming company Valve Corp. and tech firm Expedia being the most notable tenants.

Kilroy Realty Corp. is a member of the S&P Small Cap 600 Index, and is active in most major markets of the country’s West Coast. It currently owns and manages assets totaling more than 12 million square feet of commercial space and around 3.5 million square feet of rentable industrial space.

Image courtesy of  skylinetowerbellevue.com

Pebblebrook Buys Boutique Hotels in Seattle, Portland

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has secured two of the Northwest’s prime boutique properties: The Hotel Vintage Park Seattle and the Hotel Vintage Plaza Portland, which are located in Seattle’s downtown financial center and Portland’s downtown respectively. The REIT paid $63 million for the properties.

The 124-key Hotel Vintage Park Seattle is a full-service property located at 5th Avenue and Spring Street. Its location provides access to both the Downtown business district and convention space and high-end shopping and entertainment. Completed in 1922, the building was converted to a hotel 20 years ago by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants 

Amenities include cherry wood furnishings, 1,000 square feet of meeting space, in-room spa services, a fitness facility and on-site parking structure. Those features earned Vintage Park Seattle a place on Travel + Leisure’s “Best 500 Hotels in the World” in 2011. Pebblebrook also owns another nearby property, the Hotel Monaco Seattle.

The Hotel Vintage  Plaza  Portland is a 117-key full-service property located at Broadway and Washington in Downtown Portland. Like its counterpart in Seattle, the Portland property is managed by Kimpton.  Built in 1894, the Vintage Plaza Portland was most recently renovated four years ago. Its amenities include 4,800 square feet of meeting space, a business center, a fitness center and valet parking. Downtown Portland offers more than 10 million square feet of class A office space, 3,500 residential units, some 800 retail spots and the Oregon Convention Center, the largest facility of its kind in the Northwest.

 Average occupancy for the two properties is nearly identical—88 percent for Vintage Park Seattle and 87 percent for Vintage Plaza Portland. Kimpton will continue to manage both hotels.

Photos courtesy of  pebblebrookhotels.com

Stonebridge Buys Seattle Hilton from R.C. Hedreen for $60M

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

In a deal valued at $60 million, Stonebridge Cos. has acquired the Seattle Hilton from R.C. Hedreen Co., the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. The 237-key property, which will continue to operate under the Hilton flag, is located at 1301 Sixth Avenue in Downtown Seattle.

Englewood, Colo.-based Stonebridge, which operates 42 hotels nationwide, has a lengthy track record in the Puget Sound hospitality market. It previously owned a Homewood Suites near the Washington State Convention Center, which it sold to Chesapeake Lodging Trust of Annapolis, Md.

Elsewhere in the metropolitan Seattle market,  Stonebridge developed a SpringHill Suites in Bothell about a decade ago. The company has since sold the property.

R.C. Hedreen said that it will use proceeds from the sale to finance a pending acquisition but declined to provide further details, citing a non-disclosure agreement.

Photo courtesy of hilton.com

SLU Rezoning Plan Features Towers and Affordable Housing

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

A proposed rezoning plan unveiled by Mayor Mike McGinn for Seattle’s thriving South Lake Union submarket envisions apartment and condo towers rising up to 400 feet above street level and could add as many as 12,000 new households to the neighborhood. The proposal, which requires City Council, provides for affordable housing and funding for public spaces and infrastructure projects.

Stemming from a  process that started in 2008, the plan includes $27.7 million in funding for improvements to streets and parks, and $45 million earmarked for affordable housing. The plan also calls for the preservation of some 25,000 acres of regional farms and forests by means of development rights transfers.

The Business Journal reported that the city has struck a deal with local developer Vulcan Inc. that would provide a site for affordable housing. That, coupled with a direct cash investment agreement, is part of a zoning package for Denny Park. Office buildings would be limited to about 240 feet tall. However, developers could gain extra height for their projects if they contribute to public benefits.

Regency Plans 280,000 SF Retail Center for Issaquah

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Issaquah Highlands, a master-planned community east of Downtown Seattle, will get a 280,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center. Regency Centers will develop Grand Ridge Plaza on a vacant 25-acre parcel situated in the heart of the development.

Regency’s forthcoming development will be anchored by Safeway, which will occupy 44,543 square feet. A 12-screen Regal Cinemas will take another 56,820 square feet. The structure is designed by architecture firm Fuller Sears Architects of Seattle. It is part of Regency’s “greengenuity” program and will be a candidate for LEED certification.

For the rest of the space, Regency is targeting convenience retail, restaurants, entertainment and destination retail in an effort to attract shoppers regionally from the neighboring Sammamish Plateau, greater Issaquah and Interstate 90. The opening of the Safeway branch and remaining retail space, which will occur during the fourth quarter of 2013, will follow the opening of the Regal Cinemas in the second quarter.

The master-planned community of Issaquah Highlands will comprise 4,540 homes, 3 million square feet of commercial space as well as 1,500 acres of parks and public space. More than 3,000 housing units are completed or under construction. The community is considered among the first in the U.S. to adhere to the principles of New Urbanism and is regarded as a model example of a sustainable urban village.

JMA Ventures Buys Redmond Asset from Clarion for $39M

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

JMA Ventures has expanded its Puget Sound portfolio with the $38.5 million acquisition of the Offices at Riverpark in Redmond. The San Francisco-based investor bought the property from Clarion Partners, which also developed the 106,281-square-foot Class A property. That translates to a sale price of $362 per square foot for the five-story building.  

Considered one of Redmond’s premiere office properties, the four-year-old LEED certified building is 97 percent leased to a tenant roster that includes national corporate clients.

 Located at 15809 Bear Creek Parkway, the Offices at Riverpark is part of the master-planned Riverpark development, which also includes 319 luxury residential units and a 144-key hotel. The location is walking distance from Redmond Town Center and other retail venues. Riverpark is about five miles from Microsoft’s world headquarters in Redmond.

Clarion Partners was represented by a team from CBRE Group Inc. that included Tom Pehl, Kevin Shannon, Tom Abbott, Ken White and Lou Senini.  CBRE’s David Stinebaugh arranged financing for JMA Ventures.

Photo courtesy of officesatriverpark.com

Bosa Launches Downtown’s First Condo Tower Since 2007

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Downtown Seattle’s first high-rise condominium project in more than five years is getting under way in the Denny Triangle this month as Bosa Development Corp. starts work on the Insignia, a pair of 41-story towers that will include as many as 700 units between them, the Seattle Times reported.  

Located on the former Teatro ZinZanni site at 2301 Sixth Ave., the Insigia will likely aim to capitalize on the development of Amazon.com’s nearby three-building campus. Phase one of the project will carry a price tag of between $180 million and $200 million, company president Nat Bosa told the Times.  Cty approvals have been in place since 2007, when the economic downturn put the plans for the project on hold.

Some local observers are skeptical that the timing is right for a large-scale multi-family project, because that the market is still absorbing the 2,500-plus units that hit the market during the recession. 

But Bosa told the Times that even if the condo market is not ready to absorb new product when the first tower is complete in 2014, renting the units would be an alternative.

Construction will begin on the south tower first while the foundations for both structures are built simultaneously. The schedule for second tower will depend on market conditions. Bosa Development is providing initial construction funding, and Bosa told the  Times that he expects support from banks that have backed  the company’s previous projects.

Photo courtesy of  insignialiving.com