Clarion Buys 1600 Seventh Ave. Tower in $137M Sale-Leaseback

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

In a $137 million sale-leaseback deal, Clarion Partners L.L.C. has taken ownership of 1600 Seventh Ave., a 598,000-square-foot office tower in Downtown Seattle. CenturyLink, the telecommunications company formerly known as Qwest Communications,  sold the property it has occupied for 36 years and will remain in 260,000 square feet of the  tower.

A team from Newmark Knight Frank Frederick Ross, in collaboration with Eastdil Secured, represented Clarion. NKF Fredrick Ross also handled lease negotiations with Clarion on CenturyLink’s behalf.

Clarion’s newest Seattle asset received a big boost when Nordstrom Inc. took 300,000 square feet at the property. Of note, the property is located within blocks of the Downtown Seattle Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores.

Scheduled to start this fall, Nordstrom’s move-in will bring occupancy at the tower to 88 percent. Urban Renaissance Group L.L.C. represented Clarion in the lease and will manage the property. On the agenda is a makeover of 1600 Seventh Ave.’s lobby and additions to ground-level retail and underground parking.

The acquisition of 1600 Seventh Ave. brings the value of Clarion’s Seattle-area portfolio to about $1 billion. Prior to the most recent deal, Clarion paid $31 million in January for Covington Esplanade, a 187,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a Home Depot in suburban Covington.