January 24, 2018

King County Housing Authority buys 485 Shoreline units for $131M

Photo by Berkadia [enlarge]

Ballinger Commons is close to the freeway and transit center.

The Ballinger Commons apartments, at 2405 N. 202nd Pace in Shoreline, sold last month for just under $131 million. Berkadia announced the deal and represented the seller, Essex Property Trust of San Mateo, California. An Essex LLC acquired the property in 1996 for $29 million.

The buyer was the Housing Authority of the County of King, which is generally the King County Housing Authority, or KCHA.

King County recorded the sale a little before Christmas.

Berkadia's team consisted of Kenny Dudunakis, Ben Johnson and David Sorensen. The transaction was worth about $270,000 per unit.

Developed in 1989 on 78 acres, the complex has 485 units in 29 mostly two-story buildings. It is just west of Holyrood Catholic Cemetery and south of Lake Ballinger, between state Route 99 and Interstate 5. The apartments, just south of the Snohomish County line, are about a five-minute drive to the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center.

In a statement, Dudunakis said, “Ballinger Commons is an incredible piece of real estate. It's the largest apartment site in the Northwest.”

Units range from one- to three-bedrooms. County records list the average unit size at 826 square feet. Amenities include a fitness center, pool, tennis courts and clubhouse. There is a mix of covered and surface parking for over 950 vehicles.

According to its website, KCHA owns and manages almost 3,500 units of subsidized housing for families, the elderly and disabled people. It also supports affordable housing through tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and Section 8. KCHA estimates that it serves more than 49,000 people who earn less than the county's median income.

The KCHA board voted last fall to acquire Ballinger Commons.