Alexandria Real Estate Equities is moving forward with its plans to replace a bioscience property in Seattle with more than 250 residences amid a nationwide slump in demand for life sciences space.
Pasadena, California-based Alexandria has proposed redeveloping a bioscience building at 410 West Harrison Street in Lower Queen Anne into a 254-unit apartment building, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.
An Alexandria affiliate acquired the 1.3-acre site from Dina Corporation in 2004 for $5.5 million. The property consists of a three-story, 34,400-square-foot lab with office space, a parking garage and a small storage building. Alexandria’s plans call for an eight-story building spanning 274,500 square feet, with 174,000 square feet designated for residential space and 165 parking spaces.
At the same time, Alexandria is looking to offload ownership of the property. Kidder Mathews is marketing the site for sale for an undisclosed asking price. Its assessed value is $19.8 million.
A sale would align with Alexandria’s goal of selling property across the country to firm up its finances as it branches beyond life sciences real estate. The firm announced it planned to sell $2.9 billion in assets this year. Of those dispositions, a significant chunk would be land poised for possible housing development.
Seattle’s West Design Review Board is slated to hold a design recommendation meeting on the project on July 15. The City Council also must greenlight the vacation of an alley that separates the two parcels that make up the project site. That approval is expected in the first quarter of next year.
Alexandria’s Lower Queen Anne project isn’t its only multifamily project in the works in Greater Seattle. In Bellevue, the firm is developing a seven-story, 116-unit apartment building at 1299 120th Avenue Northeast. That development is part of its planned Center for Science and Technology campus in the Eastside city.
— Chris Malone Méndez