HAL Real Estate, Wolff brothers agree to finance large 'passive house' multifamily project in Seattle

A year ago Seattle builder Sloan Ritchie listed for sale the state's largest "passive house" development, an eight-story project in Seattle's Central Area. He didn't have the financial bandwidth to build the 107-unit project and continue loading up his company's development pipeline of highly energy-efficient projects.

Sloan listed the project, his largest to date, but it came off the market when some notable players emerged — HAL Real Estate and brothers Tim and Peter Wolff — ready to finance the project, which is rising at 1419 24th Ave. The work is underway despite the Teamsters' strike against concrete suppliers, which has essentially ground construction to a halt.

MainStreet, HAL Real Estate unveil plans for Woodinville mixed-use development

MainStreet Property Group and HAL Real Estate have announced plans to develop another large residential and commercial project in downtown Woodinville. 

The 4.25-acre site at 13400 NE 175th St. is currently home to the Woodgate Shopping Center and across the street from the partners’ Schoolhouse District project, which finished in 2021.

The new development will have two phases. The first phase, called Eastrail Flats, will have 207 apartment units, 21 of which will be reserved for affordable housing. Also planned is 24,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, half of which is already pre-leased.

Midtown Square nearing completion at 23rd & Union

Construction began a little over two years ago on what's now called Midtown Square Lake Union Partners' nearly full-block project at 2301 E. Union St. is nearing completion, and pre-leasing has begun for the 432 apartments over retail. A certificate of occupancy is expected early next year. W.G. Clark Construction is building the seven-story project, and Weinstein AU is the architect.

About 100 apartments have been claimed thus far. (The leasing website is midtownsquare.com.) Rents are affordable for 130 units, for households earning between 65% to 85% of area median income. That works out to around $1,286 for a studio or $2,162 for a two-bedroom

Market rents run from about $1,945 for a studio to $3,355 for a two-bedroom. The developer didn't specify whether the 100 pre-leased units were predominantly market-rate or affordable.

$5.5M land sale at Grand Street Commons, where construction still awaits final cleanup

As planned, Mt. Baker Housing has purchased its development site at Grand Street Commons. King County recorded the nearly $5.5 million sale last week for 1815 23rd Ave. S., where the south building of three will be constructed.

The seller was an LLC associated with Lake Union Partners and HAL Real Estate, which previously assembled the 3.2-acre site for about $22 million. Mt. Baker Housing also used an LLC for the deal, which was worth about $149 per square foot. Public records indicate a $7.5 million loan from the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund.

The entire project is expected to have around 771 units, 360 of them to be affordable, and 60,000 square feet of retail/commercial space. Grand Street Commons will be about a five-minute walk north to Judkins Park Station, where light rail service begins in 2023.

Schoolhouse District is earning top grades ahead of grand opening

In just over two years, the area of land adjacent to Woodinville City Hall has transformed from several decrepit buildings to a flourishing downtown core.

On Sept. 21, Mainstreet Property Group and HAL Real Estate announced the grand opening of District Flats, a new mixed-use residential and retail building in Woodinville’s Schoolhouse District development.

District Flats, located at 17409 133rd Ave NE, features 264 residential units across three, five-story buildings. Units range in size from 315 square feet to 1,672 square feet, according to a press release from the developer.

Beacon Hill restaurants Baja Bistro and Chebogz to reopen at Colina Apartments

Family-owned Beacon Hill restaurants Baja Bistro and Kusina Filipina were known for more than just their delicious, authentic recipes. Their customers and neighbors were welcomed like family when they came to dine. That was partly why the loss of both restaurants was so painful. After a change in building ownership led to a rent hike, the Paraiso family closed Kusina in 2017, and Baja shuttered after 25 years in 2020 due to the pandemic. The closures also reflected the decades-long trend of displacement and gentrification in Seattle. With the support of the Beacon Business Alliance (BBA) and a community-minded developer, these two legacy restaurants are planning to reopen in the same neighborhood they were previously forced out of.

Baja and CheBogz — the latter is owned by Paraiso family sisters Trixia and Paula — are returning to Beacon Hill, splitting a storefront space in the new Colina Apartments.

“It’s almost kind of like a fairy-tale story for People of Color,” Trixia said when reflecting on moving the restaurant back to Beacon Hill. “You don’t really get this opportunity to have a landlord say, ‘We want you guys here so that we can keep this community as diverse as it was before.’”

First phase of Kent multifamily project sells for $113M

The first phase of a new high-end multifamily development on the edge of downtown Kent has sold for $113 million to a Hawaii businessman and University of Washington benefactor.

King County on Friday posted two affidavits listing a limited liability company controlled by investor and philanthropist Jay Shidler, founder of Honolulu-based the Shidler Group as the new owner of the first phase of Ethos Apartments. The project, which will have 492 units when completed, is a joint venture of Auburn-based Landmark Development Group and HAL Real Estate of Seattle.

While $113 million is a big price for a multifamily asset in Kent, this is only the first phase of the deal.

Steakhouse, taproom to anchor Woodinville’s Schoolhouse District project

An award-winning steakhouse and a taproom will anchor the Woodinville Schoolhouse District project.

Walla Walla Steak Co. and Crossbuck Brewing are the latest tenants for the 3.3-acre project, which a spokesperson for Kirkland-based MainStreet Property Group said will cost more than $100 million to develop.

The steakhouse and taproom, which won't open until the first quarter of 2022, leased the entire, newly restored historic schoolhouse building built in 1909, MainStreet said. In addition, two multifamily apartment units are scheduled to open this fall.

New Seattle 'micro-hub campus' stretches Fremont office submarket south of the ship canal

The Fremont office submarket in Seattle is expanding as work on an adaptive reuse project south of the Lake Washington Ship Canal nears completion.

Office space in Fremont – home to the headquarters of Tableau Software as well as offices for Google and Adobe – is a hot commodity. North of the ship canal, a new office building is filling up while a 1980s-era building sold last month for 88% more than it did six years prior.

Fremont Crossing, the adaptive reuse project by Seattle-based Pastakia + Associates, will test whether tenants will migrate to the other side of the canal.

Kirkland Urban developer buys 6-acre property near Mercer Island light rail station

An empty Mercer Island office building on nearly six acres has been sold and is likely headed for redevelopment.

The property is four blocks from the future light rail station, making this a prime transit-oriented play.

Ryan Cos. and HAL Real Estate paid VEREIT $46.45 million for the 1980s-era building, which measures 146,750 square feet. Located at 3033 77th Ave. S.E., the building housed Farmers New World Insurance, which moved to Bellevue after more than six decades on the island.