January 14, 2021

Sellen and Unico top out on Cascadian; offer no clues about potential tenants

Photo by Tim Rice Photography [enlarge]

The yellow crane swings over the north end of the former Pemco block. The south end, now separtely owned, is leased to Amazon.

Rendering by Perkins and Will [enlarge]

The nine-story, LEED platinum-targeted project will have 211,000 square feet of office space.

Sellen has topped out on the new Cascadian office building, at 330 Yale Ave. N. That's the north end of what some still call the Pemco block next to Interstate 5, which is also bounded by Eastlake Avenue East.

The announcement came from Unico Properties, the owner and developer. Swiss investment firm Partners Group is Unico's partner on the nine-story, LEED platinum-targeted project, which was designed by Perkins + Will. Unico hopes to complete the project this summer. Construction began in the fall of 2019.

The 211,000 square feet of offices aren't publicly offered for lease. Broderick's fourth quarter office report says the space is unclaimed.

Amazon had once been rumored to be the future tenant for Cascadian, which Unico now calls a creative office/life science development. Amazon is the tenant in the south end of the renovated former Pemco block, which Unico and majority partner Goldman Sachs sold last month for $121 million. Amazon has been recently directing its future growth to Bellevue.

Cascadian is also pursuing Salmon-Safe certification. The company's Andrew Cox said in a statement, “We are thrilled to mark this milestone and this moment, which brings us closer to delivering Cascadian to tenants.”

Ron Lamontagne of Partners Group added, “Cascadian also closely aligns with Partners Group's focus on sustainability and delivering positive stakeholder impact with its excellent sustainability credentials, an in-built solar energy system which will offset some energy usage, and plenty of outdoor space for tenants.” A roof deck will have 7,300 square feet.

Unico's Liz Thorson said, “This is an important benchmark in delivering the opportunity for a company to help define the neighborhood, in an elegant building that is exceptionally positioned to be seen by tens of thousands of commuters each day.”

Indeed, the south building, at 325 Eastlake, prominently overlooks the freeway, with its bold orange paint and nighttime lighting.

The south building was once known as Yale & Thomas; and Cascadian was previously called Yale & Harrison. Cascadian has a construction loan from Bank OZK, of Little Rock, Arkansas.