Seattle’s Original Rainier Brewery Gets New Owners

By Gail Kalinoski

Original Rainier Brewery

Portland-based ScanlanKemperBard is adding to its Seattle area holdings, this time teaming with ReCap Real Estate Investment to acquire the Original Rainier Brewery, a historic mixed-use property in the city’s Georgetown industrial neighborhood, from Sabey Corp.

The property has 187,477 square feet of rentable space and consists of four brick and timber structures – the Bottling Plant, Malt House, Brew House/Warehouse and General Office. It was built in the early 1900s to house the Seattle Brewing and Malting Co., a predecessor to the Rainier Brewing Co.

Owned by Sabey since October 2006, the property is 92 percent leased and has more than 50 tenants including Patagonia, KEEN Footwear, REIT and Elysian Brewing Co. Another tenant, Fran’s Chocolates, took 32,000 square feet in 2016, for a factory, office, store, customer viewing area and tasting and events area.

When Sabey purchased the 5.5-acre site in 2006, company officials said they planned to redevelop the property and preserve the historic landmark buildings with structural upgrades. SKB said it plans to make further improvements, while also maintaining the historic integrity. The buildings were declared Seattle Historic Landmarks in 1993.

“This is the fourth acquisition for our Urban Industrial platform. We see an untapped demand for local and regional manufacturers. The Original Rainier Brewery asset fits this profile,” SKB President Todd Gooding said in a prepared statement.

This is SKB’s second purchase in the Seattle region in recent months. SKB, a real estate merchant banking firm that has originated total portfolio activity of $4.3 billion since its 1993 inception, acquired a seven-story office building in the Bellevue, Wash., submarket in October. The firm paid $111 million for the 110 Atrium Building, a Class A office property.

SKB Portland Properties

In August, SKB purchased the Water Tower Complex, a Class A mixed-use office and retail property in Portland’s John’s Landing neighborhood, for $24.8 million in a joint venture with WHI Real Estate Partners. The property has two buildings totaling 123,188 square feet and was 93 percent leased at the time of the acquisition. Also an historic property, the Water Tower Complex was constructed in 1903 as a furniture warehouse and redeveloped in the 1970s as a retail marketplace. In 2008, a new owner added offices to the mix.

CH2M Center, a 226,815-square-foot Class A office tower, is one of SKB’s other Portland assets. In December 2017, SKB recapitalized the 10-story office building, located in Portland’s South End Innovation District, in a new joint venture with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP. 

Image courtesy of ScanlanKemperBard