Speaking of a "gazillion square feet," the 55-story, former Washington Mutual Tower on Third Ave has just put on the market. Owned by a three-way partnership between Wright Runstad (who originally built the tower in 1988), Shorenstein Properties (San Francisco), and Beacon Capital Partners (Boston), the 772 ft. building is seemingly being sold to follow the trend in the area that is capitalizing on investors' willingness to dish out big money for the prime Seattle office real estate.
Sporting 1.1 million sq. ft., the building at 1201 Third Ave. is the second tallest skyscraper in Seattle and is estimated to be sold for more than $500 million. Though certainly a hefty chunk of cash, it's certainly not outlandish as the Seattle Times reports that a smaller, 42-story Russell Investments Center fetched $480 million earlier this year. And when its value was appraised in the less "fruitful" market that existed in 2007, 1201 Third Ave was still worth $379 million.
That the building is only 82 percent occupied also warrants the elevated price tag, especially considering that, according to the offering memorandum passed around by brokerage Eastdil Secured, "the higher vacancy rate means 1201 is downtown's only 'trophy' office tower with significance space available to capitalize on surging tenant demand."
With that kind of designation, does makes the former WaMu Building the reigning trophy wife of Seattle real estate?
[Photo by f0rbe5 via Flickr]
· Seattle's 1201 Third tower goes on market [Seattle Times]