Selling Space in Seattle

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Seattle has seen an active sales market lately. Among its varied deals was the sale of Legacy Corporate Center in Redmond for $14.2 million, or $140 per square foot. The buyer is an entity based in San Rafael, Calif. The building has remained unoccupied since its completion in 2009, but in the opinion of Tom Abbott, a senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis of Seattle, is likely to prove attractive to the technology sector, especially since the area is short on Class A office buildings.

Another big transaction this week was the Red Lion Hotels company’s sale of the 297-room Red Lion Hotel downtown to Lowe Enterprises, which also owns the Suncadia Resort near Roslyn. Lowe will continue to operate the hotel under the Red Lion flag after the deal is closed, on May 31, having already signed a franchise agreement . The value of the sale stands at $71 million.

Another big hotel deal also recently took place: the sale of the Homewood Suites Seattle Convention Center on First Hill. Chesapeake Lodging Trust of Maryland purchased the 193-room property for $53 million. The 20-year-old property was last sold back in 2006 for a total of $33.3 million.

Seattle also continues to progress on the green front, with the latest step Unico Properties’ installation of the first four charging stations in the state of Washington. The stations are located in the parking garage at Rainier Square, and were installed in compliance with the Department of Energy’s new EV project. The garage is in downtown Seattle on Union Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues.