A Boston-based real estate firm bought an apartment complex in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in the latest sign that big multifamily investors are again making deals in the region.
GID Investment Advisors paid $105.5 million to buy its third Puget Sound region apartment since August, acquiring the 265-unit, six-story complex at 5555 14th Ave. NW from multifamily giant AvalonBay Communities, according to King County property sale record.
AvalonBay, an apartment-focused real estate investment trust based in Arlington, Virginia, developed the property in 2013 as the Ava Ballard apartments. Following the sale, the property with studio, one- and two-bedroom units that average 717 square feet is now called Windsor Ballard.
Apartment investment activity has started to return to the greater Seattle region, with the roughly $4 billion in sales volume over the past 12 months eclipsing the just over $2.4 billion in sales for all of 2023, CoStar data shows.
The Ballard property is the 11th apartment complex to trade for more than $100 million in the Puget Sound region this year, led by the $286 million sale of the 664-unit Parkside Esterra apartments last month. Only five properties in the region sold for more than $100 million in 2023, with the year’s largest deal being the $125 million purchase of the Radiate apartments in downtown Redmond.
GID in September paid $75.8 million to buy a 182-unit property in Seattle's Queen Anne district from Greystar, based in Charleston, South Carolina. The prior month, GID bought the 202-unit Windsor Juanita Bay complex in Kirkland from Singapore-based CapitaLand for $73.4 million.
Windsor Ballard has such tenant perks as a dog run, clubroom with media lounge, arcade games, a fitness center, storage units and electric vehicle charging. The property has nearly 12,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, according to a statement from CBRE, which represented AvalonBay in the deal.
“The property has greatly benefited from robust leasing momentum and strong rent growth, trends that are expected to persist due to the surging home prices in this highly sought-after area," CBRE's Eli Hanacek said in a statement.
The Ballard district is among Seattle's most walkable and bike-friendly neighborhoods and has a high concentration of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, breweries and boutiques. Ballard is 3 miles from the University of Washington and close to such attractions Golden Gardens beach and Discovery Park.
Average asking rents for newer four- and five-star apartments in the neighborhood are now about $2,260 a month, according to CoStar analytics. Ballard's annual rent growth should reach the low 4% range by 2026 as multifamily construction slows down across the region.
The strong rent growth is supported by average household incomes within a 1-mile radius that exceed $200,000, according to CBRE's statement.
For the record
CBRE’s Eli Hanacek, Mark Washington and Kyle Yamamoto represented seller AvalonBay Communities.