CenterPoint Properties acquires nearly 20-acre infill Seattle trophy site

CenterPoint Properties has made its second Seattle-area investment in less than three weeks, landing a 19.5-acre site at 8249 5th Ave. S in Seattle, WA.

"This is a dynamic site, unrivaled in the Seattle market for its sheer size, configuration, quality, high visibility, and capacity for hundreds of vehicles," said JP Perez, CenterPoint's investment officer in the West Region. "In this infill location, port and last-mile users are desperate for parking and outdoor storage, especially on the scale this property can accommodate," Perez finished.

CenterPoint's latest addition to its Seattle portfolio has immediate access to critical arteries SR-99 and SR 509, giving users easy access to the Port of Seattle 6.5 miles away.

Some of the most sought-after consumers in the nation among e-commerce companies and retailers surround the property. According to the US Census Bureau, residents near the SODO industrial submarket have a median household income nearly 50 percent higher than the national average. The nearby lucrative consumer base and Port have helped SODO become one of the region's most competitive submarkets and slashed its vacancy rate to about half of the greater Seattle market.

Officials at the Northwest Seaport Alliance say the $500 million Terminal 5 infrastructure project it kicked off more than three years ago is on track to wrap in early 2023. The upgrade will allow the Port to accommodate mega ships carrying up to 18,000 TEUs and dramatically increase its annual container lift capacity.

"Over the past several years, CenterPoint has successfully acquired several large, trophy infill parking sites in the nation’s premier coastal gateway markets,” said Evan Lippow, CenterPoint’s senior vice president of investments in the West Region. “The subject property has the potential to offer much-needed parking and yard space to an infill market like Seattle, with the ability to compliment the nearby CenterPoint portfolio, as well as the broader industrial market as a whole.”

Chris Corr and Matt Murray of Kidder Mathews brokered this off-market transaction.