Andrew Friedman, a principal with developer Lend Lease Real Estate Investments and head of the company's western region, tells GlobeSt.com approximately two-thirds of the complex's 148 condominium units have been reserved and national companies have expressed interest in its retail space.

"Checks have been written and received on the condominiums," says Friedman, "We have negotiations going on right now with several potential retail clients, (but) I can't disclose who they are at this time." As for the hotel component, Freeman believes the Westin "is going to be very well received. The Bellevue area has never really had a four-star hotel like this."

Lincoln Square will include a 27-story, 530,000-sf office building and a 42-story, multi-use building called Museum Tower that encapsulates a 303-room Westin Hotel topped with 148 luxury condominiums and 330,000-sf of specialty retail including restaurants, a 12-screen movie theater and a 60,000-sf health club.

Lend Lease's Value Enhancement Fund IV will be the majority owner of Lincoln Square, with Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. and Westbank Investments (USA) Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia as co-investors.

Earlier this week, Lend Lease said it had secured a $255-million construction loan syndicated by Fleet National Bank and Dresdner Bank AG, the US affiliate of a German financial institution. Announcement of the construction loan, one of the largest placed in the United States so far this year, was made by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc. Lend Lease's Value Enhancement Fund IV, a commingled investment fund for institutional investor clients, is the majority owner of Lincoln Square and Lend Lease is co-developer. Friedman called the loan a "major vote of confidence in Lincoln Square in a cautious banking market."

Caution seems synonymous with office these days. According to the latest CB Richard Ellis survey, office vacancy rates in the Eastside experienced an increase from 3.88% in the fourth quarter of 2000 to 5.14% in the first quarter of 2001. No end is yet in sight, brokers say. "We are about a-year-and-a-half, two-years out on the potential office occupancy," Friedman said. "A lot can happen in that period of time.''

According to Margaret A. Mulcahy, director, Fleet National Bank, the bank also has funded several other Lend Lease projects, including a 33-story, 600,000-sf office building in Boston's prestigious financial district and UBS Tower, a 50-story class A office property due to open this year in Downtown Chicago.

Lend Lease's Value Enhancement Fund IV is primary investor in the retail, office and residential components. Westbank and Starwood Hotels & Resorts are primary owners of the hotel. Other participants in Lincoln Square include Kennedy Associates Real Estate Counsel, a Seattle-based pension advisory firm and advisor to Riggs Bank N.A. for the Multi Employer Property Trust - a $2.8 billion pooled equity real estate investment fund that will invest $51 million in a takeout loan for the Westin hotel component of the project.