Seattle’s Commercial Real Estate Plays Musical Chairs

The Benaroya Companies are moving to the Eastside, reports the PSBJ. They’re taking up residence in a 79,000-sq.-ft. Benaroya-owned building they’ve been working on refilling since Zango closed. The short story seems to be that it was easier to pick up stakes and move themselves than find someone to lease the last 8,300 sq. ft. Still, it’s a portentous shift, given that Benaroya is the name of Seattle’s symphony hall.

Meanwhile, mega-developers Schnitzer West have sold two major properties, notes Eric Pryne in the Seattle Times, Bellevue’s Advanta Office Commons and Seattle’s Equinox apartments née condos. (Equinox and Escala were among the last–if not the last–condo buildings to complete as the downturn shut off financing.) In both sales, Schnitzer West beat the properties’ appraised value by wide margins–$75 million for Advanta, and almost $20 million for Equinox.

And last week Target announced they were coming to Seattle’s Pike Plaza, at the foot of the Newmark. Downtown residents rejoiced at the news, and if CHS polls are to be believed, Capitol Hill hipsters think it’s just far enough away for them to retain credibility while slinking off-Hill for bargain-shopping.