Wood Partners Sells North Seattle Apartment Community for $29.4M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Seattle—Wood Partners, a national multifamily developer, sold Jasper by Alta—a 91-unit luxury apartment community in Wedgwood, Wash.—for $29.4 million to Jasper 91 LLC, which is associated with Calfox Inc.

Located at 8606 35th Ave. NE in the highly sought-after North Seattle neighborhood of Wedgwood, Jasper by Alta opened in July 2012 and is situated in close proximity to the University of Washington hospital and currently expanding Seattle Children’s hospital.

“Jasper offered the opportunity to develop a new product in a neighborhood thirsty for quality housing,” Steve Yoon, vice president of development for Wood Partners’ northwest region, tells MHN. “We take pride in what we build and take into account ‘blending’ into the neighborhood. This was our first development in the Puget Sound region, and it was important to build a project the community could take pride in.”

Amenities include an expansive roof deck with IPE wood decking, a welcoming lobby and a resident lounge.

According to Yoon, the strong Seattle market made this an opportune time to sell, and several buyers had interest. The company will use the money from the sale to invest in other developments within the city.

“We liked the neighborhood appeal of the Wedgewood community and the sincere desire to embrace the new development,” Yoon says. “We have ambitious plans for Seattle in 2013 through 2015 and wish to reinvest proceeds into new developments.”

Reports show that Seattle is one of the top six apartment markets in the United States with a vacancy rate of under three percent and a shortage of new product to serve a rapidly expanding workforce. Wood Partners has developed 10 apartment communities along the West Coast for a total of more than 2,100 rental units over the past several years.

“Wood Partners has been one of the most active multifamily developers on the West Coast through the recovery of the market, and we are aggressively pursuing more projects,” Frank Middleton, western region director for Wood Partners, says. “While we further develop our pipeline in core urban markets with a target of starting 1,200 units a year, our West Coast division will be selling a number of projects over the next 18 months.”

Giovanni Napoli and Philip Assouad of Kidder Mathews were the brokers on the transaction. At the time of the sale, the property was 100 percent leased.