Gaw Capital Picks Up Bellevue Office Complex

Gaw Capital is adding another Seattle-area office property to its portfolio with a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure deal in Bellevue.

The Hong Kong-based private equity firm just bought the 52-acre Bellefield Office Park, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. The sales price of the campus wasn’t disclosed, but the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce reported in January that the anticipated amount was about $90 million. The seller, Houston-headquartered Lionstone Investments, bought the property in 2014 in a joint venture with Talon Private Capital for $120.2 million.

Bellefield, located at 1450 114th Avenue Southeast, hit the market in the first quarter as a “lender-driven sale” by Bank of America, according to Broderick Group’s second-quarter report cited by the Business Journal.

The 15-building, 550,000-square-foot offices “attracted a wide range of prospective investors, drawn by the scale, location and unique appeal” of the complex, Broderick said. It was nearly 80 percent occupied when it was listed for sale.

After the campus came under Talon and Lionstone’s control, the firms implemented a $15 million capital investment program to revamp the buildings. Renovations included upgraded exteriors, common areas, lobbies, stairways and individual office spaces as well as the addition of tenant amenities like a new fitness center and conference facilities.

In 2019, Lionstone and Talen refinanced the property, securing a $110 million loan through the Bank of America, according to ConnectCRE. The building is located on a wooded island in the Mercer Slough, just a few minutes’ drive away from Bellevue’s central business district and the South Bellevue Transit Center, which began seeing Link light rail service last year. The office park is currently home to companies like Truveta, Inrix and a Metropolitan Market retail support center.

Gaw is also the owner of the 76-story Columbia Center in downtown Seattle, the tallest building in the Pacific Northwest. It bought the trophy tower in 2015 from Beacon Capital Partners for $711 million.

— Chris Malone Méndez