SEATTLE — German investment firm Deka Immobilien has acquired Lakefront Blocks, a 635,000-square-foot office complex in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, for $802 million. Tech giant Google is the anchor tenant.
Completed in 2019 and designed by Graphite Design Group, the development spans two city blocks — Block 31 and Block 25 — offering four six-story office buildings. The property also includes two apartment towers, Helm and Mera, which were not included in the transaction.
The office buildings on Block 31 are separated by a sky bridge and include retail space leased to Tapster, a self-serve beer and wine tasting bar, and 203 Degrees Fahrenheit coffeehouse. The buildings on Block 25 are separated by a public alley.
Kevin Shannon, Alex Foshay, Nick Kucha, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Jesse Ottele and Michael Moll of Newmark brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller, Seattle-based Vulcan Real Estate. Kevin Smith, Gerry Casimir, Bill Burke, Nikki Lam and Tom Weber of Cushman & Wakefield advised the buyer in the transaction and will assist with ongoing management of the campus.
“This project, in my opinion, was the best core office offering on the West Coast in 2021,” says Shannon. “The combination of credit, asset quality, ESG [environmental, social and governance], South Lake Union submarket and lakefront location made this a truly generational opportunity, a factor that was reflected in the intense competition for the asset.”
Vulcan Real Estate directs all real estate investment activities for Vulcan LLC, an affiliate of the Paul G. Allen Estate. Since 2000, the company has delivered $4.4 billion in assets through 46 projects, with 70 percent of its development activity occurring in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
Deka Immobilien is a wholly owned subsidiary of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale. DekaBank is one of the largest securities services providers and real estate asset managers in Germany, with a portfolio of more than €378 billion in assets.
—Katie Sloan