June 20, 2017

SLU site sells for $9M; no plans announced

A corner site at 235 Ninth Ave. N. in South Lake Union has sold for $9 million, according to King County records.

The seller is Ninth Avenue Associates LLC, which is associated with investor John Goodfellow, whose family owned the property for decades.

The buyer was Ninth Avenue Partners LLC, which is governed by Lincoln Popp. Popp is managing director for North America at Luxoft, a publicly traded software development company headquartered in Switzerland.

Popp is based in Luxoft's Kirkland office. He couldn't be reached for comment.

The 14,400-square-foot property is at the corner of Ninth and Thomas Street. It is presently home to single-story warehouses, with tenants including Cascade Architectural and Engineering Supplies, software developer 8Ninths and a lounge called Ten on 9th.

Current zoning would allow buildings up to 280 feet.

However, tower-spacing requirements for a high-rise would likely be triggered by two other projects planned for the same block: the 28-story residential tower at 820 John St., being developed by Pillar Properties and Rich Reel; and a 280-foot, 348-unit residential tower being planned by Greystar for the site now owned by Seattle Unity Church at 200 Eighth Ave. N.

No current plans have been filed with the city for the 235 Ninth site. Lease subordination agreements have been signed by the new owner and 8Ninths and Cascade Architectural and Engineering Supplies.

A manager at Cascade, which is an affiliate of Kent-based Kelley Imaging Systems, said its lease was secure for two or three months, with short extensions possible. A new location has been found for the business, and the address is expected to be announced in July.

Earlier this year, the Goodfellow LLC also sold a parcel on the same block for $5.1 million to the developers of the project at 820 John, allowing them to increase their site by 7,200 square feet.

Goodfellow and his wife still own the small mid-block parcel where the Banya 5 spa operates.

Excluding the value of the existing warehouses, the deal was worth about $630 per square foot.

Jeff Loftus of Kidder Mathews represented the seller. Buyer representation wasn’t announced.