It’s Motel 6 no more for a Kirkland hospitality holding that Sage Investment Group is converting to affordable apartments.
The local firm is redeveloping three buildings at 12010 120th Place Northeast, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.
Sage acquired the 1988-built motel from Bellevue-based PMF Investments in a $15.2 million deal. The firm, which specializes in motel-to-resi conversions, expects to spend between $5 million and $8 million on construction, depending on the design.
The investment of $20 to $23 million for 123 units — $162,600 to $187,000 per unit — shows the creativity it takes for affordable infill housing in one of the most-expensive residential markets in Washington. Kirkland’s average rent is over $2,500 a month, according to RentCafe.
The 12,200-square-foot redevelopment will build out full kitchens and bathrooms in each unit and is expected to take 18 months. In the meantime, the property will continue to operate as a motel.
The site has a pool, though Sage hasn’t determined whether to keep it.
Sage’s affordable housing investment spree snapped up several motels in the Seattle metro recently.
In June, the company bought a Studio 6 hotel in Mountlake Terrace in another deal with PMF Investments for $12.1 million. That property wasn’t for sale, though Sage jockeyed for years to buy it, Sage co-founder Emily Hubbard told the outlet.
The investor’s other recent motel purchases in the Seattle region include the 108-room former Rodeway Inn & Suites in Fife and an 86-room Travelodge in Tacoma.
“As somebody who was born and raised here, I want to keep people here, I want people to be able to afford to stay and I want people to be able to afford to move here,” Hubbard told the Business Journal. “I think this is the one that I would live in of all of [our projects],” she noted of the Motel 6 conversion.
In addition to its hotel holdings, Sage also owns the Homeport Building and buildings in the Market Street Corridor in Kirkland. — Chris Malone Méndez
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