Chicago-based Equity Residential is quadrupling down on Capitol Hill with yet another apartment building acquisition.
A $25.9 million purchase of the Packard Building at 12th and Pine now puts the company’s total outlay across the Hill at nearly $106 million. The transaction, first reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal earlier this week, puts Equity in control of 270 apartment units across three Capitol Hill buildings.
It is planning to hold at least another 140 after acquiring the Piecora’s property for $10.3 million in the spring of 2014 and moving forward on a planned six-story development that includes parking for 140 cars at E Madison and 14th. A design review for the project slated for last month was abruptly canceled.
The Packard deal likely represents another successful transaction for Hill-focused developer Maria Barrientos. She also developed the Pearl building acquired by Equity for $33.5 million in December. The cash will be useful as Barrientos takes on her next neighborhood project — a six-story, 55-unit building above 2,400 square feet of retail space at 13th and Pike that is planned to be the city’s first Passive House certified, mixed-use development.
The Packard development was a trailblazer of another sort. Developed prior to the Pike/Pine Conservation District’s incentive program that trades extra height in exchange for preservation of historic facades and building character, the Packard incorporated the auto row era facade of the building it replaced at the corner as a design and community-friendly element. It opened in 2010 with rents from $1,200 to $2,300 per month.
The building also has two commercial tenants. Eltana Bagels opened its first location in the building’s main commercial space in 2010. Meanwhile, Gnocchi Bar took advantage of some previous buildouts when it moved into the building in 2015.
