Hartz Mountain Acquires Seattle’s Alto Apartments

By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer

Seattle— Secaucus, N.J.- based Hartz Mountain Industries has acquired The Alto Apartments, a 184-unit residential rental property in Seattle’s popular Belltown neighborhood. Three years ago, the company launched an initiative focused on acquiring and constructing a national portfolio of luxury apartment properties. The Alto is the company’s first West Coast purchase.

“Alto Apartments represents Hartz Mountain’s first major apartment acquisition on the West Coast,” Jeffrey Dunne, vice chairman of CBRE’s New York Institutional Group who represented Hartz Mountain, says. “The Seattle market is an exciting investment opportunity for Hartz and Alto’s high-rise construction and transit-oriented location should provide for long-term rental growth.”

Situated in a neighborhood of popular eateries, boutiques and nightclubs, The Alto is accessible to employers and attractions by foot and public transportation. The name of the building, built on the one-time site of the Musician’s Association of Seattle, has significance for Hartz Mountain, which caters to a musical clientele at its Tribeca Grand and Soho Grand Hotels in New York City.

The acquisition went off without major hurdles. “The biggest challenge was moving outside our comfort zone, and going to and undertaking a retail investment in Seattle, where we had never before purchased,” Emanuel Stern, president and chief operating officer of Harz Mountain, tells MHN. “But the more we learned about Seattle, the more excited be became about the opportunity.”

The strategy employed by Hartz Mountain has been to expand its residential asset class through newly constructed developments in fast-growing East Coast urban areas. It owns and manages one of the largest privately held commercial real estate portfolios in the U.S. That portfolio is made up of approximately 200 properties totaling more than 38 million square feet and almost 3,000 units in northern New Jersey and New York. But the company has continued to survey national markets for high-quality residential purchases such as The Alto.

“Alto Apartments offered Hartz an exciting opportunity that we could not pass up, along with making it a meaningful acquisition in a market that is both flourishing and still nowhere near its full potential,” Stern commented.

The Alto was built two years ago, and displays up-to-date, top-line apartment finishes. Its sumptuous amenities package includes a glass-enclosed penthouse lounge, Viking barbecue grilling stations, community room, common area Wi-Fi, bike storage, state-of-the-art fitness center and a pair of Zipcars on site.

“Everything about the Alto Apartments says attention to detail,” Stern says. “And the outstanding views of the Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound, the Space Needle and the downtown skyline make it a perfect place to live, work and play.”

Residents of The Alto Apartments should expect a continuation of the high-level resident services to which they have grown accustomed, according to Stern.

“We will have the same management company on site,” he reports. “We already had a strong relationship with the company, Riverstone Management, which just happened to already be managing this building. It will be a seamless transition for residents of The Alto.”