THE SITUATION
Once the tallest building on Seattle’s skyline, the iconic, 27-story Seattle Tower was a tarnished landmark that had fallen to 73 percent occupancy largely because of deferred maintenance and poor marketing.
WHAT WE DID
We’d had our eye on this downtown gem for a long time. When an initial bidder pulled out because of the improvements necessary, we stepped in, with a realistic offer and a clear-eyed sense of what the project would require.
Venturing with Chicago-based Helix Funds, we purchased the property for approximately $16 million. We completed an approximately $3 million capital upgrade program, including seismic retrofitting, significant interior and exterior upgrades, and new amenities. Our aim: to give the building greater presence outside and more appeal inside, leveraging its beautiful, standout art-deco architecture.
THE OUTCOME
A robust marketing program attracted numerous marketing, design, software, and architecture firms to the building, increasing occupancy to 94 percent. (We’re a tenant, too.) Building rents increased 35 percent, reflecting our improvements, better management, and a higher level of service for tenants. We sold Seattle Tower to an institutional investment fund for $36.1 million after two years, providing an IRR of 70 percent.
FROM UNDER ACHIEVER TO TOP PERFORMER
By making it more useful for more businesses, we turned almost a million square feet into a multimillion-dollar opportunity.
A PRIME KENT LOCATION GETS A PRIME MAKEOVER
Trinity applies it's 100 years of real estate experience to turnaround this struggling business center.
LINCOLN SQUARE - BIG SOLUTIONS FOR A BIG PROJECT
With 1.3 million square feet behind schedule and over budget the solution was simple - call Trinity.
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE - A REMODELED CLASSIC
Some people see a half-renovated, 1920s apartment building with mold issues and call it a mess. We called it 12 floors of opportunity.
