June 25, 2024

At a steep loss, 209 First Hill units trade for $76M to Idaho investor

Photo via Holland Partner Group [enlarge]

Holland Partner Group developed the tower, then sold it to Iconiq soon after completion.

Sentral First Hill, at 1001 Minor Ave., sold last week for nearly $76 million, according to King County records. The seller was IRP Perry Apartments LLC, associated with Iconiq Capital of San Francisco, which acquired the then-new 17-story, 209-unit apartment building in July 2019 for almost $95.7 million. It was then called the Perry.

That represents an over 20% loss after a five-year hold.

The buyers were two LLCs associated with Roundhouse Advisors of Boise. Public records indicate an over $48.9 million Fannie Mae loan, sourced via PGIM Real Estate.

Brokers were not announced. The deal was worth about $652 per square foot. That figure includes the 5,545-square-foot Amazon Go store.

Holland Partner Group and NASH sold the building soon after completion to Iconiq. (Holland was the builder, and Ankrom Moisan the architect.) At the same time, also from the same sellers, Iconiq bought the new Chroma in South Lake Union for over $113 million.

Earlier this month, Iconiq sold the rebranded Sentral SLU to Carmel Partners, a regular in our market. That also sold at a roughly 20% loss. The Sentral SLU website is no longer operating, so a rebrand of the 275-unit midrise complex may come under Carmel's ownership.

Roundhouse, which didn't respond to a DJC query before deadline, is new to our region. It's a multifamily developer, investor and manager, established in 2008, which now has over 7,400 units under management. Founder Casey Lynch lives in Sun Valley, so the company name is an apparent nod to the ski resort's famous Roundhouse eatery, midway up the mountain.

The company says on its website, “We combine our expertise from living in primary markets such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, New York, and Miami with our local Mountain West insight to provide superior outcomes.” Its portfolio — before last week's sale — all appears to be concentrated in Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado.

Iconiq launched its national Sentral platform in 2021; those properties offer furnished short-term rentals. Sentral calls itself a hospitality company. For now, Sentral First Hill's website is offering up to four weeks of free rent on selected units. Sentral's properties are typically hybrids, offering “60% hotel rooms and 40% apartments, including both traditional 12-month leases and designer-furnished short-term rentals.”

Sentral First Hill is on a ground lease from a local family that has long owned the former McDonald's corner, at Madison Street, in the heart of the Pill Hill medical district. The building has 156 underground parking stalls.

Sentral has in recent months announced new locations in Portland and Las Vegas. It says it has 36 buildings in 22 cities, which total some 10,000 units.