GlobeSt.com UPDATE: L&B Realty Advisors Buys 601 Pine

SEATTLE-L&B Realty Advisors Inc. has acquired 601 Pine St., a 69,856-sf fully leased Downtown retail building that is fully leased to Old Navy, Gene Juarez Salon and Spa and Fox Sports Grill. The seller was Madison Marquette, on behalf of the Marshall family of Olympia. Neither side of the deal would comment on the purchase price, but local sources tell GlobeSt.com the property sold for about $26 million. L&B's director of retail acquisitions Bernadette Mussell tells GlobeSt.com the building is subject to a ground lease, but its client has a purchase option for the land that it expects to exercise. In a prepared statement, Mussell describes the asset as a "landmark retail building on a prominent corner location in the most desired portion of Seattle's retail and business district" and says "the acquisition is consistent with the client's strategy of acquiring core retail investments for long-term yield stability." Built in 1929, 601 Pine St. was previously home to the I. Magnin department store. Old Navy opened its 38,000-sf store in the building in 1998. Gene Juarez came along shortly thereafter. The property went on the market shortly after Fox Sports Grill leased the remainder of the building in 2003.Paul Sleeth of Colliers International marketed the property on behalf of Madison Marquette, which manages more than 24 million sf of retail and mixed-use properties throughout the US. L&B, which manages a portfolio of about 16 million sf, represented itself in the transaction. GlobeSt.com reported in early November that an unknown buyer has the property under contract. (For the previous story, click here).