PHOENIX (July 1, 2019) – EverWest Real Estate Investors, in partnership with Chilean-based fund manager Frontal Trust, has entered into the Seattle office market with the acquisition of Olympic Block, a technology-oriented, mixed-use office and retail building located in the heart of downtown Seattle’s Pioneer Square.
Managing Director Ryan Madson directed the acquisition of Olympic Block on behalf of EverWest and Frontal Trust. The building seller is New York-based Brickman.
“We have been monitoring the Seattle office market for a long time, looking for a project that fits the right size, submarket and value profile,” said Madson. “Olympic Block checks all of those boxes, operating as a modern mixed-use asset while still allowing us to add value and capitalize on the area’s double-digit rent growth through strategic leasing and interior improvements.”
Olympic Block totals 73,184 square feet at 101 Yesler Way, at the corner of Yesler Way and 1st Avenue South. EverWest’s purchase includes six floors of the Olympic Block Building, built in 1986, six floors of the Lippy Building, built in 1889, and 8,576 square feet of street-level retail space.
The project also includes three floors of residential space that is owned by a separate entity and not part of the acquisition. The office, retail and residential spaces are served by a subterranean parking garage.
Over half of Olympic Block’s office space is considered creative light-tech, allowing for efficient conversion to open, collaborative office designs according to tenant needs.
The property’s main-and-main location is compelling for modern companies and Millennial employees drawn to a highly walkable, amenity-rich downtown work environment. At Olympic Block, tenants are two blocks from Pioneer Square Station, within one-quarter mile of more than 100 restaurants, within one-half mile of Century Link Field and less than one mile from Pike Place Market. The building is passed by approximately 20,000 cars and 3,000 pedestrians each day.
Olympic Block is currently 90 percent leased to a range of tech and corporate solutions office tenants and ground-floor restaurant tenants.
While this is the company’s first office investment in Seattle, EverWest owns approximately one-half million square feet of industrial space in Washington’s Kent Valley submarket. This includes the three-building, 286,472-square-foot ProAmpac campus in Auburn, two projects in Kent: the three-building, 138,296-square-foot West Valley Distribution Center and a recently completed, 42,982-square-foot industrial building at 7011 S. 182nd Street, and a recently acquired property in Renton totaling 36,998 square feet at 1415 Maple Ave. Southwest.
In late 2015, EverWest also provided a mezzanine loan for the construction of 2202 Eighth Ave., a 447-unit luxury multifamily tower located in the heart of downtown Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.
EverWest continues to seek new office, industrial and multifamily investment opportunities in the Washington market.
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