With this demand in mind, Lake Washington Partners entered the Southend submarket, which has a different price point compared to the suburban Bellevue submarket along with high-quality labor.
By Lisa Brown | GlobeSt.com
Creeksides at Centerpoint is a three-building class-A office campus (credit: NAI Puget Sound Properties).
KENT, WA—With the continued interest in the Southend submarket by companies such as Blue Origin, Tommy Bahama and DII Design, the Kent Valley office vacancy rate has fallen to 5.4% as demand continues to grow. With this demand in mind, Lake Washington Partners LLC expanded its ownership presence in the Puget Sound region and entered the Southend office submarket.
The firm recently purchased Creeksides at Centerpoint from Menashe Properties at an undisclosed price. The 218,426-square-foot three-building class-A office campus is located at 20415, 20425 and 20435 72nd Ave. South.
“Creeksides represented an opportunity to not only buy one of the Kent Valley’s highest-quality office parks but it also offered us a prime opportunity to enter Seattle’s thriving and fast-growing Southend office submarket,” said Jordan Lott, Lake Washington Partners president. “The campus offers beautiful, mature landscaping, is amenity rich and it has an array of diverse and long-term tenants. We pride ourselves on being long-term investors and we are attracted to investments like Creeksides that offer a premier corporate address for pre-eminent companies, in one of the most desirable locations in a high-profile submarket.”
Constructed in 1984 and renovated in 2000, the four-story buildings are located in a business park with a pond and waterfall. The property offers on-site amenities including an Avanti Market, conference centers and generous parking.
“Tenants are looking for high-quality office buildings and South King County offers lower lease rates than Seattle and Bellevue. With the growing workforce who live in the Kent Valley, Creeksides offers an excellent corporate office feel without being a converted industrial warehouse. For many of the people working at Creeksides, it provides a metropolitan office environment just minutes from their homes,” added Lott.
Creeksides is within close proximity to Kent’s retail core, restaurants and hotels, and it is within five minutes of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. With the large population of residents in the Renton Highlands and Maple Valley neighborhoods, Creeksides offers bonus accessibility for tenants and employees.
“The Southend submarket offers a different price point compared to the suburban Bellevue submarket. It is highly sought after by companies who are looking for access to high-quality labor in a less expensive rental market,” Lott tells GlobeSt.com. “Creeksides provides a high-end suburban office feel in close proximity to labor, transit and does so in a park-like setting but with a more competitive rental rate. From a portfolio standpoint, it augments our other holdings because it has the same high-end real estate feel, but it’s geographically diverse.”
Creeksides is currently 97% leased to a diverse roster of long-term tenants including Naverus– GE Aviation, the state of Washington–the Department of Health, and the Department of Social and Health Services, Integra Telecom Holdings, Blue Nile and Iron Bow Technologies.
Lott says Lake Washington Partners plans to invest in the property to further enhance the building’s amenities.
“With close to 1,000 people working at Creeksides, we plan to enhance the offerings in food and beverage, fitness and gym, the common areas, and in the meeting and break-out spaces,” Lott tells GlobeSt.com.
Lake Washington Partners was represented by Mike George and Scott Sulman of NAI Puget Sound Properties.