Unico Buys South Lake Union Office Building

Seattle-based Unico Properties LLC, a real estate investor and full-service operator, has purchased 701 Dexter Avenue North, a six-story office building near the southwest shore of Lake Union, just northeast of downtown Seattle. According to public records, the sale was closed on November 25, 2015 for a total of $17,700,000, or $281 per square foot. Terms of the deal were not disclosed; the seller was a JV called 702 Aurora North Joint Venture, which includes OAC Services, an architecture and engineering services firm, according to Shawn Mahoney, a principal at OAC.

The 62,000-square-foot building is currently 93% leased, with engineering firm Grey & Osborne and OAC Services as the two largest tenants. Mahoney noted that OAC intends to remain in the building as a tenant. Andrew Cox, vice president and regional director at Unico, said the firm is considering a renovation but he would not get into specifics. Unico said it was attracted to this property because of all the new housing along Dexter — Unico says more than 1,000 apartments have opened nearby — and proximity to Amazon, Facebook, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Allen Institute.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Unico Buys 1.5M SF CO Office Portfolio

The W. W. Reynolds Companies, Inc., a Boulder, CO-based commercial real estate development, leasing and professional property management firm, has unloaded a sizable office portfolio this week as Unico Properties LLC purchased an approximately 1.5 million-square-foot block of properties. The Seattle-based real estate investor purchased the portfolio for an undisclosed sum in a deal brokered by CBRE. Unico purchased the Boulder portfolio in partnership with AEW Capital Management, a global real estate investment advisor. AEW acquired the property on behalf of AEW Partners VII, the seventh in the firm's series of opportunistic real estate funds, according to a GlobeSt.com article.

"Timing and the strength of the real estate market in Boulder and Fort Collins made this opportunity to sell a portion of my portfolio possible," said BIll Reynolds, president of W.W. Reynolds. "Having personally developed all of the properties included in this sale, it was important to me that my company stay involved going forward. To do this, we are partnering with Unico and will continue to manage and lease these properties as we have done since their inception."

The deal includes a 1,013,443 square-foot portfolio in Boulder and a 507,005-square-foot portfolio in Fort Collins. The Boulder portfolio is comprised of 27 buildings located in four of Boulder's premier office parks: Pearl East Business Park, Tierra Business Centre, Flatiron Business Center, and Highpoint Business Park. Shortly after closing, Unico sold the Fort Collins portfolio to Prospect Development Partners, LLC.

"This transaction, at approximately 1.5 million square feet, represents the largest real estate transaction by square footage this cycle and it elevates Unico's position in the market as one of the largest office landlords in the Front Range," added Geoff Baukol, senior vice president of institutional properties for CBRE Group Inc.'s capital markets division.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Unico Buys Denver Platte Portfolio

Unico Properties, a Seattle-based real estate investor and full-service operator, has closed on the purchase of two mixed used buildings in Denver, CO that comprise the Platte Portfolio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Unico did note that it would serve as the property manager for both buildings, purchased from Plante Properties.

"Continuing our investment momentum with the acquisition of one of Denver's premier, historic portfolios underscores our on-going commitment to growth, expansion, and long-term presence in Denver," said Ned Carner, Unico Properties VP of acquisitions. "We're thrilled to own and invest in the Zang and Root buildings and in the Platte Street submarket. With these acquisitions, we plan to further enhance the district's reputation as a premier destination to work, dine, live and play with a robust workforce, proximity to mass transit, top restaurants, and a strong retail presence."

The Zang Building at 1553 Platte Street is a 48,254-square-foot, class-A mixed-use building with three levels plus one lower level. The Root Building at 401 15th Street is a 51,872-square-foot, class-A mixed-use building that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Both buildings are essentially fully leased, and offer a generous amount of parking at two spaces per 1,000 square feet ratio.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Amazon Grabs More Seattle Space

The online retail giant Amazon.com continues to grow in Seattle as it takes another 150,000 square feet of space at 1800 Ninth Avenue, an office building owned by Talon Private Capital, according to a Kidder Mathews report. Amazon has been a titan in the Seattle real estate market in recent years, buying three city blocks from Seattle's Clise family in January of last year to build a 3.3 million square foot office complex, then following that acquisition nine months later by purchasing the South Lake Union headquarters campus it had been leasing from developer Vulcan Real Estate. It's also rumored that Amazon will be leasing 136,000 square feet of space in Metropolitan Park North at 1220 Howell Street.

"Amazon is the undisputed heavyweight champion of downtown Seattle," said Kip Spencer, president of The Spencer Companies, a Seattle real-estate consulting firm.

"In the 25 or 30 years I've been around downtown Seattle, I've never seen anything remotely like what Amazon has done to the market," says Dale Sperling, former president and CEO of Seattle's Unico Properties.

A joint venture of Talon and Prudential Real Estate Investors bought 1800 Ninth in December 2011 from Regence Blue Shield, which leased back about 30% of the space. The 1800 Ninth building is about three blocks from the nearest building Amazon already occupies.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.