Intracorp apparently saw the changing market conditions sometimearound the end of 2007 and, with the project well underway, beganworking with multifamily brokerage specialist Jeffrey Williams, apartner in the Pacific Northwest office of Chicago-based Moran& Co. "They wanted to take this out very quietly because theywere concerned about market perception; they did not want to looklike they were not committed to the market because they are,"Williams tells GlobeSt.com. "So we took it out to a very limitedaudience with not a whole lot of detail and pretty much all groupssigned confidentiality agreements."

Part of the deal with Sobrato was that Intracorp not scrimp onany of the finishes and complete the project as it would have beenfor sale. Intracorp's total development cost for the project wasnot immediately available."Nobody lost money and I believe somemoney was made," Williams says.

Brian Cox, a VP with Sobrato tells GlobeSt.com that whileSobrato didn't overpay for the asset it did pay a premium for aunique property. "This was an opportunity to buy a very highquality product with beautiful views that probably would never havebeen built as apartments," he says. "This was also an opportunityto invest in Seattle, where job creation has been very good andwhere we are looking very long term."Williams agrees. "You wouldn'tspend $48 million to build a 114-unit apartment complex in thatlocation," he says. "It's unique."The marketing materialsassociated with the sale estimate that the property can achieverents of $2.50 per sf. If the development had been stabilized atthat rate, Williams says a $50-million purchase price would havetranslated to a capitalization rate somewhere in the mid 4%range.