Healthcare, Housing Trade in Seattle

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The state’s largest psychiatric hospital is the object of one of the biggest healthcare real estate sector deals in recent memory. Valued at $65.7 million, Fairfax Hospital in Kirkland is a 157-bed medical facility that could become the property of proposed buyer Universal Health Services, a major hospital chain based in Brentwood, Tenn.  The company, which bought the former owner of Fairfax Hospital, is currently awaiting approval from the state of Washington for the deal to go through. In a Puget Sound Business Journal story on the matter, the company reportedly said it had spent $175,000 on legal fees imposed by Washington state regulators.

Residential property has also seen activity. Keeping with Seattle’s consistent uptick in its residential market, particularly among apartment complexes, a real estate investment partnership including Swiss bank UBS purchased a 339-unit apartment complex in Federal Way. The partnership paid $52 million for the 27-building development. Constructed in 2003, the complex is the third property of its kind to trade in an over-$50 million transaction in King County this year.

Furthermore, two Queen Anne Hill apartment buildings were sold by Emerald Equity to a real estate subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. The Seattle Times calculated the value of the transaction at $44 million. The two apartment complexes, Eden Hills and Sweetbriar, total a combined 84 residential units and 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.