Investcorp, Schnitzer West Refinance Seattle Office Tower

By Gail Kalinoski

Michael Gigliotti, Senior Managing Director, HFF

Less than two years after they bought 901 Fifth Ave. in Seattle in a joint venture, Investcorp International Realty Inc., and Schnitzer West have refinanced the 540,589-square-foot, Class A office tower with a $170 million loan from HSBC.

The HFF debt placement team in Seattle led by Senior Managing Directors Michael Gigliotti and Tom Wilson and Executive Managing Director Michael Tepedino worked on behalf of the joint venture to secure the loan. Financial details were not made public.

“Investcorp and Schnitzer have done a phenomenal job since purchasing 901 Fifth in 2016. The strong performance of the building, combined with the improvements made to the asset and the surrounding areas, have led to the partnership’s ability to take advantage of the strong demand in the capital markets for high quality, well-run Seattle office towers,” Gigliotti said in a prepared statement.

Investcorp is a leading global provider and manager of alternative investments that includes commercial and residential real estate investments in the U.S. worth more than $55 billion. Schnitzer is one of the West Coast’s fastest-growing investment, development and property management companies. They paid approximately $223.5 million for the downtown Seattle office building in June 2016. The joint venture recently invested about $7 million in improvements to the 20-year-old asset, including lobby renovations and updates to the conference center and executive board room.

Tom Wilson, Senior Managing Director, HFF

The 41-story downtown tower, located near Interstate 5, is one block from the Third Avenue transportation corridor, which provides access to light rail and bus lines. The high-rise is almost fully leased, with tenants including the City of Seattle, St. Jude, State Farm Mutual, SVB Financial Group, AllState Insurance, Washington State University, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and Pitchbrook Inc.

“The financing of 901 Fifth Avenue is one of the more significant closings for HFF since we formally opened the Seattle office in late 2017,” Wilson, co-head of the HFF Seattle office, said in a prepared statement. “We were thrilled to be able to work with such strong client relationships at Investcorp and Schnitzer.”

Denver, Seattle Office Projects

Investcorp and Schnitzer also teamed up in June 2016 to acquire the Centerpoint I and II Class A office towers in Denver. Centerpoint I is a 168,486-square-foot, 14-story office building and the adjacent Centerpoint II has 16 stories and 205,534 square feet of office space.

The HFF debt placement team worked with Seattle-based Schnitzer to secure a $225 million construction loan for the firm’s Madison Centre development project at 505 Madison St. in the city’s CBD.  Tepedino and Wilson were also part of the team that worked on behalf of Schnitzer and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors to secure several loans in 2016 toward the construction of the 37-story, 753,869-square-foot trophy office tower.

Images courtesy of HFF