Industrial real estate demand is exceedingly high for close-in locations. A huge amount of the existing inventory was acquired for redevelopment of the proposed new basketball/hockey complex in SoDo and remains in limbo today. Seattle Commercial Real Estate was engaged over two years ago to find a facility of approximately 20,000 square feet “close-in” to downtown Seattle. In that period of time, the prices per square foot rose from the $120 per square foot range to close to $250 per square foot.
A facility of 20,200 square foot bordering a known environmental hazard was put on the market eliciting major attention. The client did a comprehensive due diligence for over thirty days on a handshake agreement with the Seller….and then the party began. The offers were flying back and forth and nothing seemed to be getting accomplished when the vacant building had a major break in. The thieves stripped the building of all electrical wiring, panels, and anything salvageable and materially damaged a primary access door to the warehouse in the process. The issue of this damage stopped the negotiation.
In the dynamic and competitive market of 2018, the ability of a client to perform is critical when competing for the acquisition of a scarce real estate commodity such as close-in industrial real estate. Credit to the business savvy of our client, he immediately made an offer to the Seller to close in one week with a price reduction and Seller financing for the balance of the purchase price under amazingly good terms and conditions. The Buyer assumed all the work and addressed all issues based upon a reduced sale price. Seattle Commercial Real Estate strongly recommends that their clients be prepared to act quickly and professionally in a dynamic industrial real estate market.
