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April 23, 1999

Real Estate Buzz

By MARC STILES
Journal Real Estate editor

The site of downtown Seattle's next skyscraper could be on Samis Foundation land at the southwest corner of University Street and Second Avenue.

William Justen, managing director of real estate for Samis, says the property that is south of the Seattle Art Museum and west of the Washington Mutual Tower is "the best block in downtown." The parcel's current structures, the Galland and Seneca buildings, reach no higher than five stories and total only 98,000 square feet. That's hardly the highest and best use in a zone that permits towers, Justen said.

He was speaking to the Washington State Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties this week about his role at the Samis Foundation. Sam Israel, the late real estate mogul, created the foundation to benefit wildlife groups and Jewish education. The foundation now contributes $2 million annually, and Justen said his goal is to boost that to $10 million as soon as possible.

But don't expect the construction crane to go up anytime soon at University and Second. Not only is the foundation focused on renovating its existing buildings first, but Wright Runstad & Co. has a lease on the Galland and Seneca buildings until 2006.

"I don't have any plans yet," Justen said after his presentation. He added he isn't sure if the site would be best suited for residential, office or retail.

So who's going to buy... the Kent Space Center, that eight-building office complex that Boeing is selling? The chatter is heating up, and there's talk of an impending announcement for the jumbo package.

Among the rumored contenders are Unico Properties and Intracorp. Boeing isn't talking -- as if that's some surprise. Neither are officials at Intracorp. Unico General Manager Scott Coombs confirms his company is interested but does not have the property under contract.

"We've looked at it pretty hard," he said.

The center is big and no matter how you price it, it's a heck of a lot of money. But what an opportunity to swoop in and control 750,000 square feet of office space just like that.

"We like the idea," Coombs said, "but I think a lot of other people do as well."

We hear that an announcement... on the long-rumored Microsoft deal for space at Metzler's proposed Lakeridge Corporate Square is just a couple of weeks away.

The 560,000-square-foot development is conveniently located in Redmond, practically next door to the software behemoth's headquarters. It doesn't take a real estate genius to conclude Microsoft is the logical company to settle there.

Facts, actual facts... we bring you regarding Amazon.com. The Internet bookseller has sublet 42,000 square feet in downtown Seattle's Decatur Building, 1511 Sixth Ave., from the Alamo Group. This was another one of those long-rumored deals.

The space had been offices for the now defunct Ernst Home Center Inc. chain. Alamo acquired many of the Ernst leases and with the help of Charlotte Loveland and Kay Hammar, brokers for Colliers International, struck the deal with Amazon.com. Ed Curtis of Washington Partners is Amazon.com's real estate representative.

They've topped out... at the Concord, the high-tech condominium under construction at 2929 First Ave. On Wednesday, T. Jones Inc. and HAL Real Estate Investment Inc., developers of the first Seattle condo to offer a smart box wiring distribution panel in each suite, hosted a pizza party to mark the occasion. Of the 203 units, 35 remain for sale, according to T. Jones officials.

About the new look... The Boss and a colleague decided that Real Estate Notes was too dull a name for the column and suggested The Stiles Report. It must be noted that this idea came about as the duo attended a business trip in New Orleans. No doubt they were on Bourbon Street at the time the light bulb went off over their Hurricanes.

Once they returned we agreed that Real Estate Notes was a boring title. But The Stiles Report? How self aggrandizing. So we settled on Real Estate Buzz instead.



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