Lakeland Town Center, Moda Apartment Buys Mark Solid Puget Sound Real Estate Performance

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

California-based Loja Real Estate L.L.C. expanded outside of its home state with the acquisition of Lakeland Town Center for $39.4 million. Purchased from Lakeland Town Center II L.L.C., the 125,000-square-foot shopping center will be managed by Colliers International of Seattle, according to a report from the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The deal comes in the same week Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services made public its latest quarterly report, with a focus on retail. The report predicted that, with absorption of retail space in the Seattle area remaining consistent for several quarters, leasing is bound to go up both in number of deals and in asking figures. The performance is helped by the Puget Sound area’s business-friendly environment, with 36,000 jobs created this year alone, a 2.2 percent increase over last year.

The residential market has also been gaining traction during the past several months, with a host of developments announced since February driving up interest in the area’s housing market. On top of that, Equity Residential generated buzz with the acquisition from HMI Real Estate of the Moda apartment complex in Belltown. The 251-unit complex went for $49.5 million.

According to The Seattle Times, this is the second transaction made by Equity Residential in the Puget Sound area this year. Back in March, it bought an office building near the Alaskan Way Viaduct, with intentions to redevelop it.