December 21, 2021

Unico pays $100M for Boeing HQ in Renton, with refresh planned

Photo by LMN [enlarge]

The main BCAG building features a large atrium entry and lobby.

Unico Properties announced late last week the pending purchase of the headquarters for Boeing's commercial airplanes group, aka the BCAG buildings. King County recorded the $100 million sale on Monday. Unico used multiple LLCs in the deal. No financial partners were announced, and no loan was recorded.

The main five-story office building at 1901 Oakesdale Ave. S.W., aka Building 25-20, has almost 238,000 square feet of offices on five levels. Boeing acquired the 215-acre former Longacres horse racing property from the Alhadeff family in 1990, for an unknown amount.

Of that, the Unico deal spans about 150 acres. Unico's Ned Carner said in a statement, “Unico is thrilled to own an important piece of Puget Sound history, and we are excited to turn it into something that will build upon the cherished cultural and economic legacy of Longacres.”

Jeremy Piquard, Jeff Cole and Scott Alan of Cushman & Wakefield represented Boeing. C&W has also brokered earlier deals, as the struggling aircraft maker cashes out of surplus real estate.

This is likely the last major sale in a series of dispositions that Bloomberg first reported last year. Two empty buildings in Renton sold earlier this month for $12 million. Earlier this year, Boeing sold about 310 acres near Frederickson for $200 million; six office buildings in Bellevue for about $139 million; and the Bomarc building in Everett for $35 million.

The 1901 Oakesdale building was developed in 1998; it was designed by LMN and built by Baugh Construction. The sale also included the slightly older three-story Building 25-01 to the north at 1301 S.W. 16th St., with about 340,708 square feet of offices.

Including lab and industrial space, plus a daycare center, Unico sizes the entire deal at 962,800 square feet. There are also 2,150 surface parking stalls.

In a repositioning effort, the company says it's planning capital investments to refresh and modernize the two buildings. No architect or contractor was named. The pair are both walkable to Tukwila Station, with its Sounder rail service and RapidRide F Line, and Unico is calling the deal a transit-oriented investment.

The company's Andrew Cox said, “Unico believes that Longacres will appeal to those users in search of large blocks of space with great value relative to the traditional urban core. We are excited to reintroduce this project to the market and populate these spaces with dynamic and growing companies looking for unmatched amenitization, multi-modal transportation and the most unique campus setting within the Puget Sound region.”

The Boeing campus now features two ponds, an apple orchard, and a 1-mile walking/running trail.