Seattle Office Buildings Among Nation's Most Expensive: Report

SEATTLE — Last year proved to be a big one for commercial real estate across the nation and in Puget Sound, with some eye-popping sales recorded for large office buildings. The real estate blog CommercialCafe assembled a list of the top 50 office deals in 2021, and four Seattle sales made the cut, raking in a combined $1.8 billion.

Across the nation, major sales reflected investments in warehousing, data centers and life sciences, the blog found. The top 50 takes into account all major commercial transactions for buildings with at least 25,000 square feet and mixed-use properties with more than half allotted for office space.

By far, the most expensive such sale last year was in Cambridge, Mass., where BioMed Realty paid $3.4 billion for University Park at MIT — an all-time record. California had the most sales land in the top 50.

In Washington, Seattle claimed three entries in the top 20 and a fourth in the top 50. The largest was 300 Pine, the former Macy's building downtown, purchased for nearly $580 million by the Urban Renaissance Group. In a close second was West 8th, an Amazon-leased tower bought by Kilroy Realty for nearly $490 million. Rounding out the top 20, at 18th overall on the list, was the 50-story Safeco Plaza office tower, which sold to Boston Properties for $465 million.

Seattle office buildings among top 50 priciest in 2021:

• #15: 300 Pine
  • Sale price: $579,386,461
  • Buyer: Urban Renaissance Group
  • Seller: Starwood Capital Group
• #17: West 8th
  • Sale price: $489,878,032
  • Buyer: Kilroy Realty
  • Seller: DWS
• #18: Safeco Plaza Office Tower
  • Sale price: $465 million
  • Buyer: Boston Properties
  • Seller: Vestas Investment Management
• #49: The Alexandria Center
  • Sale price: $254,800,000
  • Buyer: Clarion Partners
  • Seller: Alexandria Real Estate Equities

>> Check out the full top 50 via CommercialCafe.