Life Science Portfolio in Washington State Sells for $450M

The largest sale ever recorded in Washington state has closed — and it’s for three life sciences buildings.

The properties, located at 1201 Eastlake Avenue E, 1208 Eastlake Avenue E, and 199 East Blaine Street, together encompass 322,858 square feet of first-class office and laboratory space and are fully leased.

Alexandria, represented by Newmark, sold the properties for a record-setting $450 million to Clarion Partners, which acquired a 70 percent interest.

“This transaction marks the first core life science offering in the Seattle market in several years,” said Kevin Shannon, Newmark’s co-head of U.S. capital markets. “Life science fundamentals are faring better than the overall office fundamentals with rents that are now ranging from $65 to $70 NNN annually, which allowed us to achieve record setting pricing for the Puget Sound marketplace.”

Seattle’s life sciences market is largely concentrated in the Lake Union submarket, and has roughly six million square feet of inventory. Overall vacancy among those properties was less than four percent in the third quarter, according to Newmark Research.

Overall, life science properties have been booming during the pandemic, which has put pressure on research, manufacturing and distribution. However, the lack of available space has been an issue, as demand overwhelms supply in the market.