September 25, 2025

In for $20M, out for $5M: Alexandria sheds old building, still home to Turner Construction

Photo via Cushman & Wakefield [enlarge]

The building is in good shape, and looks to be about 50% occupied.

East of the Stadium District, a property once targeted for redevelopment sold this week for just under $5 million, according to King County records.

The seller at 830 Fourth Ave. S., via an LLC, was Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which acquired the vintage building in 2020 for almost $19.8 million. That's a 75% drop in value.

The buyer was Richey Properties LLC, which is associated with the experienced local investor Jeff Richey.

Brokers were not announced, though Cushman & Wakefield seems likely. For the four-story structure, the longtime home to Turner Construction's local office, the deal was worth about $142 per square foot. There's also a small penthouse level and roof deck, plus some structured parking.

Developed in 1913 as an industrial building, 830 Fourth has about 34,820 square feet of office space. It sits directly east of Lumen Field and the BNSF railroad tracks — not really in SoDo, and south of the International District.

Current leasing materials from Cushman & Wakefield indicate that it's about half vacant. Turner has all the third floor. A tech firm is also based there. The lobby was recently renovated, says C&W, and the building looks to be in good shape. You recognize it from the Interstate 90 exit ramp to Fourth. And the building is but a short walk south to Stadium Station.

Also to the south, and not part of this week's sale, is the former Salvation Army property, which Alexandria purchased in 2020 for $42 million. That remains bare slab. Alexandria has only shed about 10% of its prior 3-plus-acre assemblage (by size, not dollars). So the deal doesn't signal a complete retreat from SoDo. New building plans may yet emerge there, if the life-science market rebounds and conditions are right.

Alexandria, with its large presence on Eastlake, in South Lake Union and Bothell, never filed any plans in SoDo. The $15 million loss is but a blip on its much larger balance sheet. Alexandria remains the largest player in the U.S. life-science market.