March 29, 2024

SHA pays over $39M for P-I globe building

Photo via SteelWave [enlarge]

The P-I left in 2012. SHA moved in last fall.

An office building at 101 Elliott Ave. W. sold this week for $39.5 million, according to King County records. The buyer was, to use its common name, Seattle Housing Authority, which leases space in the building. It moved there in November from a nearby location in Uptown.

The seller was Elliott Seattle Real Estate Holding, associated with Credit Suisse Group, which acquired the property in 2016 for about $40.4 million. The deal was worth about $380 per square foot. SHA's broker was Steve Schwartz at CBRE.

Developed in the early 1980s, the five-story building has about 103,771 square feet. When new, it was home to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, following the paper's 1986 move from Belltown. Its famous neon-bedecked, eagle-topped globe then also made the move to Elliott, where it now overlooks Myrtle Edwards Park. The globe was landmarked in 2012.

Hearst still owns the over 13-ton globe, now about 76 years old, which required a helicopter to move. The publisher has been in periodic talks with MOHAI to acquire, relocate and preserve the globe, which has seen better days. Seagulls and salty marine air are its enemies. For now, MOHAI is in charge of the upkeep. MOHAI has said that a move and full restoration could cost around $2 million.

SteelWave has managed 101 Elliott since purchasing it in 2007 from Sabey (apparently the original developer). SteelWave then sold to Credit Suisse. There are about 225 underground and structured parking stalls at 101 Elliott. Leasing materials don't indicate any big blocks of vacant space; a few suites have been offered to sublease.

SHA has about 88,039 square feet in the building, and shares the address with a few other tenants. The authority says Credit Suisse raised the idea of selling after its November move, not before.

SHA Executive Director Rod Brandon said in a statement that the purchase was “at a cost well below other buildings on the market.”

The P-I itself ceased print publication in 2009, and shifted entirely online. In 2012, with a much-reduced staff, it finally left 101 Elliott for a nearby Belltown office building. The P-I website is still active.