Newmark Advises on Sale of Iconic Waterfront Office Building, Known as The Lake Union Building, in Seattle, Washington

June 27, 2022 9:00 AM

Newmark announces it has advised on the sale of 1700 Westlake in Seattle, Washington. Known as “The Lake Union Building,” the 90,625-square-foot, Class A building is located near the epicenter of Seattle’s South Lake Union.

Newmark Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Vice Chairman Nick Kucha, Senior Managing Director Michael Moll, Director Jeffrey Hodson and Director Rachel Jones represented the seller, Cairn West. Newmark Senior Managing Director and office leasing expert Cavan O’Keefe also advised on the sale. The Newmark team represented Cairn West through all stages of the marketing, due diligence and sales process. The buyer, The Swig Company, was self-represented.

“Selling a building of this size located directly on Lake Union is a rarity within this submarket today,” said Kucha. “We received significant interest from both domestic and local investors and were delighted to work with The Swig Company on its first acquisition in Seattle, on behalf of Cairn West.”

Hodson added, “The Lake Union Building represents a true creative office jewel box asset. We were fortunate to be able to work on the building’s first disposition since its construction in the 1970’s. With its profitable marina, highly desirable location directly on the waterfront, proximity to Seattle’s premier South Lake Union submarket, plus Cairn West’s significant property modernizations, the opportunity was truly one-of-a-kind.”

The Lake Union Building is ideally positioned to benefit from the increasingly high demand for office space in the Puget Sound’s most highly sought-after submarket. There has been more than 5.75 million square feet of new office space delivered in Lake Union in the past seven years, which has doubled the size of the submarket. Despite this unprecedented growth, the vacancy rate has not reached double digits in over four years, averaging 4.1% since fourth-quarter 2017, according to Newmark Research. Lack of supply continues to exert upward pressure on rents.

About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries (“Newmark”), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark’s comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform’s global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. Newmark generated revenues of nearly $3.1 billion for the twelve months ending March 31, 2022. Newmark’s company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with 6,300 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements about Newmark
Statements in this document regarding Newmark that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include statements about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, results, financial position, liquidity and outlook, which may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impact may differ, possibly materially, from what is currently expected. Except as required by law, Newmark undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see Newmark’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information set forth in these filings and any updates to such risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information contained in subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.