[Matt the Engineer]

It seems like there's no good thread for building and land purchases, so I'm starting a new one.

Walton offering nine buildings for sale here

By JOURNAL STAFF

Photo by Jon Silver [enlarge]

​

The private equity real estate investment firm Walton Street Capital of Chicago has put nine office buildings in the Puget Sound region on the market, a source confirmed on Wednesday.
The two Seattle buildings are shown here: Second & Spring is in the foreground and 1111 Third Avenue is behind it on the right.
In Bellevue, they are Symetra Financial Center, One Bellevue Center, 110 Atrium, Bellevue Gateway I, Bellevue Gateway II and Bellevue Gateway 405. On Mercer Island, Walton wants to sell Island Corporate Center.
The source said Eastdil Secured is listing the portfolio for sale.
Eric Mogentale, managing principal with Walton Street, said in an email Wednesday that the firm does not comment on transactions. The Puget Sound Business Journal first reported that the portfolio is on the market.

 

[Mpatte]

Very interesting. I am hoping to eventually see buildings like 1111 Third Avenue there be imploded for something better. Maybe this will be a step in that direction, though i know that there are still lots of empty lots and underbult areas around

 

[mhays]

1111 Third will be around until some distant sci-fi future. It would be asburd and absurd to tear down that kind of value even if something moderately larger could replace it.

This sort of point comes up a lot. The problem is this: Anyone wanting to develop will want an affordable property to do it on. They'll also want a limited amount of hurdle to doing so. When you're talking about a woodframe apartment on one-year leases it'll be valued much higher than land value (unless it has serious structural problems maybe). When it's a highrise office full of 5-10-year leases it gets much tougher still. With both of those, just the interim emptying out period will be a big money-loser. With a highrise demolition is also a huge cost. And at the end, you've turned a $240,000,000 property (2007 sale price) into a $40,000,000 property at best. Developers prefer scenarios that don't start by throwing $200,000,000 into the fireplace.

 

[Mpatte]

Yes, i have always assumed that we will need to start getting to downtown SF land value and demand before the old crappy buildings that are still workable start to get imploded

 

[Doomgoggles]

There's a ton of room for improvements before we even need to think about tearing down a high-rise like that. I present my downtown Nemesis:

 

[mhays]

That'll be a primo intersection when the viaduct is gone. Until then cars get more then their share of the light cycle.

 

[Ruffhauser]

From todays DJC.

http://www.djc.com/news/re/12086587.html

February 25, 2016

Survey: Urban Visions

Specialty: Developing unique and transformational real estate in the greater Seattle area

Management: Greg Smith, president and CEO; Broderick Smith, vice president; Luis Adan, senior development manager; Salone Habibuddin, senior project manager; Michael Aguero, controller; Kara Kesler, property manager

Founded: 2003

Headquarters: Seattle

Projects: 200 Occidental, Weyerhaeuser’s new Seattle headquarters; S, a 7-acre urban green campus containing seven buildings with retail and office space totaling about 1.2 million square feet, Seattle


Greg Smith, president and CEO of Urban Visions, answered questions from the DJC about his firm and the industry.

Q: What are your plans for the Aaron Brothers building?

A: The building at 1513 Third Ave. in Seattle was constructed in 1920 as the Winter Garden Theatre, and we intend to bring back its grandeur after the Aaron Brothers Art & Framing business leaves there in May.

Our plans are to renovate the exterior facade and hopefully replicate the marquee that was once there. The interior is 35 feet tall, and we will demolish the drop ceiling to expose the amazing volume and character of the building.

We want to create a bar/performance venue that reflects and supports Seattle’s creativity and talent. This is a work in progress, but the bones are there. We think we can make this a destination for urban residents and tourists alike.

Stay tuned as this historic icon is brought back to life.

Urban Visions is planning The Launch Pad office building at 1516 Second Ave. in Seattle. Construction will start in about a year.

 

[velciane]

Guys - we can't post the entire articles, we are going to be hit with a DMCA. Please limit to just the first paragraph and link to the article.

 

[Ruffhauser]

Guys - we can't post the entire articles, we are going to be hit with a DMCA. Please limit to just the first paragraph and link to the article.

I'll delete them.

 

[LCIII]

Another Urban Vision that sounds too good to be true.

 

[LCIII]

Really no point posting them at all then.

 

[CityView Jim]

Guys - we can't post the entire articles, we are going to be hit with a DMCA. Please limit to just the first paragraph and link to the article.

What is a DMCA?

 

[kduffygreaves]

What is a DMCA?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act

 

[Steve W]

What is a DMCA?

It's a reference to the take down notice process under the digital millenium copyright act. See http://www.dmca.com/FAQ/What-is-a-DMCA-Takedown

 

[velciane]

You can click on the "DMCA" link right below the banner for more details, or the global announcement which appears on every page on the forum regarding rules around posting copy written materials. It's not fun having to the "that guy" who has to enforce the rules.

Posting a link is still valuable for us to go read the content on the website itself.

 

[LCIII]

Not in the case of the djc that requires a subscription to see the articles.