New Firm to Invest $550M Across Metro Seattle
Keelbase Capital will deploy private credit and engage in value-add acquisitions.
The newly launched Keelbase Capital plans to invest up to $550 million across throughout Seattle in multifamily, retail and industrial assets over the next three years. Its strategy will revolve around value-add acquisitions and the deployment of private credit.
Although Seattle’s advertised average multifamily rent growth has stagnated—showing a 0.9 percent increase year-over-year in June, according to the latest Yardi Matrix report—Keelbase expects the growth to pick up as construction starts fell sharply, thereby increasing asset values in the medium term.
The company aims to invest $200 million to $300 million in joint venture purchases throughout the metro, targeting acquisitions of more than $20 million. Seattle investment has already taken off as Yardi Matrix recorded a multifamily transactions volume of $1.8 billion throughout the first half of 2025, more than tripling last year’s figure of $598 million registered during the same period.
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Debt-wise, the firm will provide structured solutions, such as preferred equity, mezzanine debt and stretch senior financing for high-quality, well-located assets. Keelbase earmarked between $125 million to $250 million for this approach. The company will provide between $2 million and $15 million for mezzanine and preferred equity, with larger debt possible for senior mortgages.
As asset values remain below their peak and traditional lenders cannot provide cash-neutral refinancing, owners are faced with a substantial challenge, according to a company statement. Keelbase plans to step in, providing flexible capital and giving owners a path forward.
Seattle’s overleveraged real estate
Between 2019 and 2022, approximately 1,900 multifamily properties, representing some $60 billion in gross value, throughout Greater Seattle received low-cost financing at a period of historically low interest rates.
Through the addition of industrial, retail and office assets, the property count goes up to 3,800 for a total value of roughly $105 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics and Keelbase estimates. A substantial portion of that real estate may be overleveraged today.
