Ballard apartment building sells for less than it did in 2018

The Wilcox apartment building in Ballard traded for $45.2 million in a deal recorded Thursday by King County.

The 132-unit, 144,000-square-foot building is at 2003 NW 57th St.

The buyers are a joint venture between Seattle-based Timberlane Partners’ acquisition fund TAF and Santiago, Chile-based Stars REI. The seller is affiliated with J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

The price works out to approximately $342,045 per unit and $314 per square foot.

The sales price is 25% less than in 2018, when the building sold for $60.3 million. The property, developed in 2016, has an assessed value of $52 million, according to King County records.

Jon Hallgrimson, managing director for Timberlane, said in a news release that apartment buildings such as Wilcox in close-in Seattle neighborhoods are poised for rent growth.

“As an innovation and technology hub, it is our belief that Seattle is well on its way to getting employees back into the office on at least a hybrid basis,” he said. “This will lead to outsized rent growth in the core, especially as multifamily construction slows. The ability to buy quality assets like Wilcox for more than 35 percent below today’s replacement cost is the reason I left my 35-year career in brokerage.”

Hallgrimson joined Timberlane in May after decades with CBRE.

This is the first partnership between Timberlane and Stars REI.

“We are delighted to announce this acquisition in our first collaboration with Timberlane Partners, marking a significant milestone in our strategic expansion,” said Joaquin Canessa, vice president of acquisitions for Stars REI. “Our unwavering confidence in the Seattle market is reflected in our optimism about its tremendous growth prospects.”

David Young, Corey Marx, Chris Ross, Jordan Louie, Michael Lyford and Reed Curtis of the JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team represented both the buyers and seller.