Schnitzer's Tuesday Payday was Even Bigger

BELLEVUE, WA-GlobeSt. readers will have noticed a recent story about a $167 million Tuesday deal between Schnitzer West and Grosvenor Americas in which Grosvenor acquired a portfolio of 11 office buildings from the west coast developer. Turns out that Schnitzer was involved in another transaction, also completed on Tuesday, that was even bigger.

The company sold two 33-story luxury Bravern apartment towers for $307.8 million, or $676,000 a unit, according to a report in the Seattle Times. Citing industry sources and public records, the Times identified the buyer as Invesco Ltd., an Atlanta-based pension-fund adviser.

The apartment community is the residential component of The Bravern, a premier mixed-used project developed by Schnitzer West in the mega block at the corner of Northeast Eighth Street and 112th Avenue Northeast in the Bellevue CBD. Schnitzer West will continue to manage The Shops at The Bravern and The Bravern Office Commons. Riverstone Residential Group will continue to operate The Bravern Signature Residences.

The Residences are the final component of The Bravern to be sold. In September of 2010, Principal Real Estate investors acquired The Bravern Office Commons, consisting of 750,000 square feet in two towers, fully leased to Microsoft. In March 2012, The Shops at The Bravern, a high-fashion open-air shopping environment anchored by the Northwest's only Neiman Marcus store, and home to Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Ferragamo, was sold to the Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, which owns iconic landmarks such as Faneuil Hall in Boston, Union Station in Washington, D.C..

"This was the ideal time to transition the asset," said Greg MacDiarmid, regional operating partner and chief investment officer of Schnitzer West. "Downtown Bellevue is undergoing a major revitalization through significant investment in upscale apartment homes, hotels and commercial office space, designed to attract families and professionals seeking Bellevue's emerging urban life style. While there are nearly 800 workforce housing apartment units currently under construction, there is a scarcity of best-in-class, luxury apartment community properties."

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