Prime Mixed-Use Asset Required Creative Solution to Challenged Office and Prime Retail Space After 2009 Recession
Challenge
The 5th & Pine building is located at the premier retail intersection of Seattle’s CBD. The building was converted in the late 1990s from a Nordstrom department store to a mixed-use asset featuring high quality street retail on the ground level, three office floors, and a new fifth-floor office penthouse. By the start of the global financial crisis, approximately 70 percent of the retail and office leases were nearing expiration and almost half of the tenants were planning to vacate.
- LocationSeattle, WA
- TypeOffice / Retail
- Size157,914 SF
- Investment strategyValue Add
- Acquisition dateJanuary 2005
Solution
Given the unique physical characteristics of the impending office vacancy, we saw an opportunity for creative tenants to build a branded space focused on the employee experience, while taking advantage of the large floor plates, high ceilings, and dynamic location next to an urban park. We pursued a targeted list of tech startups with sample office renderings tailored to their specific needs. For the retail space, we focused on renewing the remaining retail tenants and on re-tenanting one of Seattle’s retail locations on the corner of 5th & Pine.
Results
The team leased the corner retail to All Saint Spitalfields, a perfect complement to renewed leases with Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, as well as setting the stage for Sephora to exercise its renewal option. The team completed an office space lease with Readers Digest for its startup affiliate, All Recipes. Within a year, All Recipes expanded to the remaining floors, bringing 5th & Pine to full occupancy. The building was sold in 2012.