The Viktoria, a new 24-story luxury apartment tower that was built in downtown Seattle to cater to “the urban adventurer,” sold for nearly $129.8 million Thursday, public records show.
The sale of the building at 1915 Second Ave., near Pike Place Market comes roughly 15 months after the building opened, and is the latest example of Seattle developers selling projects soon after they’re built.
In addition, strong demand among investors for Seattle-area properties is pushing prices high enough to induce owners to sell.
The name of the buyer was not available. The group’s address is the same as Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm TruAmerica Multifamily, but company Chief Administrative Officer Mark Enfield on Friday said TruAmerica is managing the asset for the buyer, whom he said is a private company that’s a TruAmerica third-party client. He did not name the company.
TruAmerica – a joint venture of Robert E. Hart and the Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America – has been actively buying properties in the Puget Sound region, where over the last 14 or so months the company has invested around $171.5 million.
Goodman Real Estate of Seattle and Mack Urban of Seattle and Los Angeles developed the project with financing from Chicago-based institutional adviser Capri Capital Partners. At the end of March, Capri become part of Capri Investment Group during a restructuring. It was not clear whether this played into the sale of the Viktoria.
Shortly before construction crews started building the Viktoria in 2012, Goodman and Mack Urban said the development would cost $95 million. The project was billed as a luxury project with hotel-like amenities, such as a concierge and top floor “sky lounge.”
The project was built to cater to “the urbane adventurer, one who has a passion for exploring all the world has to offer, whether that’s spending a spontaneous weekend in Thailand or a Friday night at a new hidden bar in Belltown,” a Viktoria spokesperson told the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce three years ago(subscription required).
There are 249 units in the Viktoria, so the sale price works out to $521,100 per apartment. The region’s record of $676,923 a unit was set in 2013 with the sale of the Bravern apartments in downtown Bellevue. The city of Seattle record of $606,400 was set last year with the sale of the Martin tower in Belltown. The same company, Dallas-based Invesco Real Estate, bought both the Bravern and the Martin.
There are many examples of developers willing to sell new apartment projects. Earlier this year, the luxury Premiere on Pine tower in downtown Seattle was put on the market, and some experts think it could go for $250 million, or $648,000 per unit.