Sep 14, 2023

Tour Washington 1000 with ULI

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As part of the larger Seattle Convention Center expansion, aka Summit, Lease Crutcher Lewis has topped out on the Washington 1000 office tower next door to the north. Work began in the spring of last year, on a building site above the Summit garage, on a separate triangular block. Developer Hudson Pacific Properties hopes to open the 16-story, 546,000-square-foot project in the first quarter of next year. But come Oct. 6, whether you're a member of the Urban Land Institute or not, you can take a hard hat tour of the LMN-designed building. The walk will begin at 3:30 p.m., departing from the nearby Hill7. Details and registration: northwest.uli.org.

SKB signs new tenant in Interbay

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Three years ago, ScanlanKemperBard of Portland paid $24 million for the 7-acre Northwestern Industries glass manufacturing plant in Interbay. (The latter company consolidated operations in Arizona.) The following year, renovations began on the three old buildings now branded as the Commodore Interbay Industry Center. CBRE represents the space, and its Bryan Hester and Andrew Stark recently signed a new tenant, the climbing gym Vertical World. That gym has been a longtime fixture in Interbay, and it isn't moving. Rather, its new 42,337 square feet, with a 15-year lease, will be a satellite operation at 2501 W. Commodore Way; that's but a few steps west from the current gym. Jo Ann Williams of SKB said in a statement, “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Vertical World to Commodore, especially because this expansion will allow them to provide their specialized youth programs to a greater number of kids in Seattle.” SKB's entire complex spans about 213,066 square feet. The renovation was done by Venture General Contracting and Mildren Design Group, which is based in Oregon.

LPC West elevates Aigner

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Lincoln Property Company and its LPC West arm recently announced a trio of promotions. Here in Seattle, Alex Aigner becomes senior VP. He'll help oversee projects all over our state, working with Patrick Gilligan, who said in a statement, “All three of them embody Lincoln's high standards of trust, partnership, grit and innovation established by our founders and embraced by our colleagues across the United States and Europe.” Those three also include Trever Nicoll (covering Idaho, Montana and Utah) and Kasey Silva, working in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and our state. LPC's most notable current project in our market is the U District Station Building (pictured), now rising atop U District Station itself.

NAIOP takes wing

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Aerospace could be called a niche within the office and industrial markets, one example of which is Alaska Airlines' fairly new 128,000-square-foot SeaTac office building dubbed The Hub, which opened during the pandemic. (That, pictured, was designed by NBBJ and built by Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company.) And aerospace is to be the subject of NAIOP's breakfast gathering next Wednesday the 20th. A panel will chat on stage while you eat, talking about current flight-adjacent trends in real estate. Those four experts are architect Todd Buchanan Sr. of HOK, Ben Brookman of Alaska Airlines, Kelly Hennig of Stoke Space — which, based in Kent, makes reusable rockets! — and Keri Stephens from the Port of Seattle. The event begins at 8 a.m. at the Hyatt at Olive 8. Details and registration: naiopwa.org.

Columbia Pacific revamps Omaha units

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Over in Omaha, Nebraska, Columbia Pacific Advisors did a previously unreported March deal to acquire a troubled 408-unit apartment complex from the early 1970s. It's now been rebranded as Highpoint, and renovations are underway. Under prior ownership, local media amply covered the poor living conditions — including black mold — and code violations that led to the city condemning the 24-acre property in December. The vacant property then went into foreclosure, and Columbia Pacific acquired it for an undisclosed price. In a recent press release, Columbia Pacific cited “past mismanagement and sub-par housing conditions.” Its Billy Meyer says, “We knew restoring this complex would be a challenge. However, with support from the Mayor's office, city officials and our business partners, we are delighted to have turned Highpoint Apartments into one of Omaha's most attractive and desirable residential locations.” Local firm the Lund Company is now overseeing the phased renovations and pre-leasing the apartments. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said in a statement, “It's always preferable to rehabilitate properties rather than abandon or demolish them. Highpoint is an example of saving a previously unsafe property and providing new housing options for renters.”

Sep 07, 2023

Tour the Bellingham waterfront

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The weather should be nice on Wednesday, and Sept. 13 should be a fine day to drive up to Bellingham for a waterfront stroll. The occasion is a free walking tour sponsored by our local chapter of the Urban Land Institute. The tour will begin and likely finish at Trackside Beer Garden, departing at 3 p.m. The itinerary will likely include the Boardmill Block, where the old Boardmill Building is slated to become a 107-room boutique hotel; and the 83-unit Millworks affordable housing project, now under construction. Also nearby is the repurposed old Granary Building, owned by the Port of Bellingham and to be redeveloped by Harcourt; and the related but unnamed waterfront condos, also now under construction. Registration and details: northwest.uli.org.

Cushman & Wakefield

Masson

Cushman & Wakefield recently announced the hiring of Leah Masson, who makes the move from CBRE. She's a specialist in landlord leasing, advisory and transaction services, now to be a senior director with C&W. That firm's Alison Beddard said in a statement, “Leah's extensive market knowledge, strong work ethic, fresh perspective to the office sector and keen sense in understanding client needs have helped her build reputable relationships throughout the business community — and a great reputation as a broker.” Masson added, “I look forward to collaborating with my new team led by Alison.”

More money for Harvest hotel

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There are now three cranes over Harvest, the wine-themed, mixed-use project in Woodinville. It's proceeding in phases, with Wood Mountain as the lead developer and Columbia Pacific Advisors as the main financial backer. Now joining the hotel financing effort is Hall Structured Finance of Dallas. It recently announced its provision of $52 million for the 164-room Somm Hotel and Spa, which is now under construction. (The separate shops, apartments, condos and townhouses all have various overlapping parents.) Brian Holstein of US Hotel Advisors brokered the deal. Hall's Brian Mitchell said in a statement, “The hotel is ideally located for business travelers, business groups and conferences, while also offering high-end dining, retail and wine-tasting experiences for the leisure traveler.” The Somm team is lead by Woodinville Hotel Partners, whose Kent Halvorson added, “We are grateful for the innovative financial solution.” Alco Investment Co. is an equity partner in the hotel, later to be managed by Marriott. Jensen Design Architecture is the designer, and Sierra Construction the builder.

Ziegler closes $118M bond deal for senior community

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Over in Redmond, the Emerald Heights senior community recently announced a $55 million expansion of its campus. A new 54-unit building is part of that plan, as is a 42-unit building that began construction last year. (It now has 333 units, and provides other services, in various buildings.) Financing for both, and other campus improvements, is coming from a $118.3 million bond issue successfully sold by Ziegler, a private investment bank based in Chicago. It recently announced that the tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds, originated by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, also refinanced a 10-year-old prior financing package — and refinanced last year's construction loan. The nonprofit Emerald Communities' Lisa Hardy explained, “This was a complicated financing with several moving parts. It was crucial to us to have Ziegler as our investment banker as we navigated all of the complex dynamics of this financing.” Ziegler's Sarkis Garabedian added, “It has been 10 years since Emerald Heights accessed the capital markets, and they were greeted with strong investor demand, despite a volatile bond market. The financing was well oversubscribed with a deep book of institutional investors.” Fitch gave the bonds an A minus rating.

Gantry finds $11M for Kent refinancing

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The 43-year-old Cumberland Industrial Center in Kent recently benefited from an $11 million refinancing package. The five-year, fixed-rate loan was secured by Mike Wood at Gantry, that firm recently announced. Public records indicate Lincoln National Life Insurance as the lender. The borrowers were a trio of local investors. Wood said in a statement, “The industrial market continues to enjoy healthy conditions both regionally and nationally.” He said the owners, longtime clients, have a “reputation for being a great property manager. This has kept occupancy steady at this well-maintained property, which shows continued, long-term upside from successive leasing renewals as well as new tenants.” With about 118,500 square feet, Cumberland has several small business and industrial tenants. It last traded a decade ago for $11 million.

Local brokers align with Side

The online residential real estate sales platform Side, based in San Francisco, recently announced four new affiliates in our market. Redefined Real Estate was founded by Toril Schoepfer in Sumner. In Seattle are Portico Real Estate, led by David Marks; Just Sold Realty, led by Alice Nguyen; and Upside Properties, led by Brian Side. (His name is an apt coincidence.) Founded in 2017, Side says it now has 575 affiliates across the U.S., 50% of which are woman-owned and over 30% of which are minority-owned. It has a Seattle office, led by Scott Dickinson, who said of the new affiliates, “Side offers a choose-your-own-adventure approach to building a real estate company. Each company is uniquely structured and branded. What unites them is a superior quality, since Side only partners with the very best agents.”

M&M does $4M refi deal in Yakima

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Marcus & Millichap has announced a recent $4 million refinancing deal for the Powerhouse Villas in Yakima, which closed late last month. M&M's Tammy Linden secured the funding from an unnamed lender, and she had also previously represented the buyer of the 24-unit duplex community at 3105 Swan Ave. That $6.6 million sale was in January. The new loan, with a 5.92% interest rate and 30-year amortization period, retires a prior bridge loan that Linden also arranged.