Call Center, Excess Land Trade for $9.82 Mil

BOTHELL, WA-A group of German investors recently sold a 65,000-sf call center here and adjacent land to W.C. Clark Construction Co. for $9.825 million. Spiegel, a direct marketer of soft goods, leases the call center for Internet ordering related to its Eddie Bauer division.

Ted Gibbons, president of Investment Realty Advisors Inc., which was the exclusive agent for the seller, tells GlobeSt.com that Spiegel has about six years left on its lease. The ingoing cap rate on the purchase is about 8.5%, says Gibbons, but will jump to 10% after a scheduled rent escalation next summer.

Quadrant Corp., a division of Weyerhaeuser, built the call center for Eddie Bauer on behalf of the German investors in 1997, who made the purchase because of advantageous tax laws relative to Germany, says Gibbons. “This was a smaller asset than they typically acquire,” he says, adding, “They typically like to sell before lease term gets too small to be attractive.”

The building was put on the market in August. W.C. Clark assumed $5.5 million in debt as part of the transaction. “They are a builder and I think they were interested in the excess land; this is a strong infill location with very high barriers to entry,” says Gibbons. “The parking ratio is currently 6.2 per 1,000 square feet, so even if Eddie Bauer were to leave, they have the ability to attract a corporate tenant that needs above-standard parking.”