Bellevue CBD Land

Kidder Mathews received the exclusive disposition assignment for this privately held asset in downtown Bellevue. Encompassing nearly 1.5 acres, the site allowed for the development of more than 1,000,000 sq ft of residential or more than 500,000 sq ft of office, hospitality, or retail space. On the site was the Bellevue First Congregational Church, which had owned the property for over 100 years. The Board of Directors for the Church engaged Kidder Mathews to sell the site and realize the land value while relocating the group to a less valued land area while remaining in a high profile area in downtown Bellevue.

The Sellers had owned and occupied the property for over one hundred years while Bellevue, specifically downtown Bellevue, gentrified and developed all around the site. The Sellers also managed a two-story, multi-tenanted office building on the site. As both the church and the office building gradually became more functionally obsolescent, the Sellers performed their own internal review of values and how to best optimize their asset.

Kidder Mathews’ listing strategy was to go to market unpriced and couple a sale with the purchase of a property the Church could move into or redevelop. The Sellers needed assurance of a closing on their Site before they could fully engage with another property owner on a purchase. The Site was also burdened with neighboring easements and the sale was challenged by a Right of First Offer (ROFO) from one of the neighboring property owners.

The economics of the Bellevue market also proved challenging as several office projects were already entitled and further along in the development process, including the neighboring site with the ROFO. Multiple recent failed apartment and condominium sites throughout the Bellevue downtown since the economic recession of 2008 caused many buyers and investors to shy away from the multifamily product.

Kidder Mathews received numerous offers from Buyers throughout the Western United States, but due to the Listing Team’s expansive and broad reach in its marketing efforts, Kidder Mathews identified a highly capitalized investor from Southeast Asia with capabilities of closing extremely quickly and confidently. Kidder Mathews structured a Purchase and Sale Agreement that navigated the ROFO while providing certainty in the closing, which allowed the Seller the opportunity to lock up a property to purchase with the requisite amount of capital. The property sold for $30 million and the Buyers ultimately closed the transaction without entitlements in less than 50 days.