Belltown Mixed-Use Revived by Sino-American Partnership

Future site of Potala Tower. Photo by SounderBruce

By Dees Stribling

Seattle—Binjiang Tower Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hangzhou Binjiang Real Estate Group Co. (Binjiang Group), and PH Seattle Tower I LLC, an affiliate of the Las Vegas-based Molasky Group of Cos., have entered into a joint venture agreement to develop a major mixed-use property in Seattle. The 41-story project, formerly known as Potala Tower, will rise in the Belltown submarket.

The project—which will be renamed and rebranded—will include 339 apartment units, 142 hotel rooms, 1,824 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 177 underground parking spaces. The development was revitalized by the recommitment of previous EB5 investors and substantial new investment from the JV partners, which have taken complete ownership and control of the project.

The property is located at 2116 Fourth Ave., adjacent to the landmark Seattle Cinerama and only two blocks from Amazon’s planned 3 million-square-foot headquarters. The general contractor will be Denver-based PCL, and the architect is Seattle-based Weber Thompson.

Brad Sher, CFO of The Molasky Group, told MHN that “Seattle is an attractive market for multifamily for-rent projects for several reasons: employment growth, relative strength of the local and regional economy, and the relatively high cost of housing, which makes multifamily communities an attractive alternative to homeownership.”

Binjiang Group is a real estate development company based in Hangzhou. Since its founding in 1992, the company has grown into one of the leading real estate developers in the Yangtze River Delta. The Molasky Group is a privately owned development company. Along with its affiliate Ovation Development, it has developed more than 10,000 multifamily units.