Stream Real Estate ended December with a relatively rare purchase in these times — an empty 1980s-era office building.
But with hundreds of millions of square feet of obsolete office space projected to hit the market by the end of the decade, Stream has no intention of trying to fill the building in Seattle's Lower Queen Anne district with businesses.
The Seattle-based real estate company plans to turn the low-slung Queen Anne Plaza west of Climate Pledge Arena into residential units as Seattle’s first office-to-residential conversion project since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Seattle city officials launched a program to encourage the conversions aimed at creating new rental housing to address Seattle's housing needs. The city sought ideas and proposals from developers and rezoned some sites in and around the central business district to promote more housing development.
Stream's acquisition and planned conversion represent a new approach to urban development that sets the stage for neighborhood revitalization and more sustainable living spaces. That pioneering spirit earned the project a 2024 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the Project: Stream bought the 52,270-square-foot property at 201 Queen Anne Ave. N. from locally based East-West Investment Co. with plans to start the conversion project this year. The developer plans to seek LEED certification for the transit-oriented residential development, with green space, energy-efficient features and eco-friendly building materials.
What the Judges Said: Jacob Pavlik, research manager with Colliers, said the project will set the tone for future office-to-residential conversions.
"More office buildings will become obsolete, requiring that the built environment, and the people who transact and build, adapt along with it," Pavlik wrote. "It's notoriously difficult to change buildings and this sale can give the market optimism that positive adaptations will occur."
They Made it Happen: Dan Chhan, Tim McKay, Sam Wayne and Matt Kemper of Cushman & Wakefield's Seattle office represented Stream Real Estate. Brandon Burmeister and Andrew Shultz represented the seller.
CoStar Senior Research Manager Alexander Fairlie contributed.