May 17, 2013 – Source
Equity Residential made a huge profit on an old Seattle waterfront building, selling it this week for $32.5 million.
Public records show that an entity related to Unico Properties of Seattle bought the six- story, 96,600-square-foot building at 51 University St.
The price of the building has been climbing since August 2010, when Goodman Real Estate bought it for $6.85 million. Less than a year later, Goodman sold it to Chicago-based Equity for $11.75 million.
Biotech company Immunex occupied the 95-year-old building before Immunex was acquired by Amgen in 2002.
Equity Residential was in the process of converting the building to office and retail space. Unico was formed 60 years ago to lease, manage and develop the University of Washington’s 10-acre Metropolitan Tract in the heart of downtown Seattle. Unico’s agreement with the university is up in 2014.
In recent months, Unico has been buying properties on or near the waterfront, where significant real estate development is expected to occur after the Alaskan Way Viaduct is replaced with a tunnel under downtown Seattle.