Shorenstein Picks Up Second Seattle Asset

The building is 90% leased, with more than half of the building leased to the US General Services Administration. Other major tenants include Northwest Architectural Company, one of the largest architectural firms in Washington State; Inspiration Media, an operator of five regional radio stations; and wireless phone service provider MCI.

Blanchard Plaza was built in 1982 for $15 million by Canada's Olympia & York, the firm that developed New York's World Financial Center and Canary Wharf in London. The 15-story building has 17,377-sf floor plates, a parking ratio of 1:1,400 sf and 300-degree views of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and the Downtown skyline. The gross asking rental rate ranges from $22.50 to $26.00 per sf per year, according to officespace.com.

The building is located in the Denney Regrade submarket at 2201 Sixth Ave. The address puts it north of the financial district, east of Belltown and south of South Lake Union. All three of the submarkets are growing and expanding.

When the Seattle-based investment firm Meriwether Partners acquired the property in 2004 with a loan from TIAA-CREF, the GSA leased about 52% of the building in three leases, but two of those leases representing 102,000 sf were expiring that year. Shorenstein says the GSA now leases closer to 60% of the building on a long-term basis.

Other things that increased the value of the property during Meriwether's ownership include an $8-million renovation and additional improvements related to the GSA leases. The occupancy of the property also rose from 70% when Meriwether acquired it to 90% today.

Shorenstein made its first foray into the Pacific Northwest last October by buying into a partnership that owns a piece of Washington Mutual Tower, a 55-story 1.2 million-sf office building located in Seattle's financial district.