Bellevue Land Development Site

Kidder Mathews received the exclusive disposition assignment for this 30,800 sq ft development site located in the Bellevue, Washington Central Business District. This sale
offering represented one of the last developable parcels available on 108th Avenue NE.
This property boasted 140 feet of frontage and was 220 feet deep. The frequented Bellevue
Pedestrian Corridor runs parallel to the north of the property. This site falls within the O-1
Office Zone and allows for a maximum height of 450 feet for residential development or 300
feet for office development. The base FAR in this zone is 5, and the maximum FAR in this
zone is 8 with a 1 FAR exemption for service retail on the main floor.

Two structures occupy the site and are currently used for restaurant and other retail
services. In 2009, BV Holdings (client), a subsidiary of Wasatch Development Company,
decided to put this property on the market for sale after owning it for approximately 5 years
in order to focus on numerous multi-family development projects in Utah.

The challenge of the assignment was to maximize the value of the property and to
entice investors, developers and companies that plan on purchasing the site to pursue
development in the economic downturn of 2009. Development property valuation was
projected to drop and most of the market was uninterested in acquiring land without
adequate supporting cash flows in place. In addition to a soft investment market, this
site was encumbered with an easement for sidewalk and roadway purposes, as well as
the installation of underground utilities. Although this easement was recorded and its
interpretation was readily acknowledged, some of the language was ambiguous and left the
property exposed to various contrary interpretations.

Kidder Mathews was able to find a local buyer/hotelier that was in a 1031 exchange after selling another piece of property and in need of identifying a core asset to purchase. The buyer looked at this acquisition as a long-term hold, with the ability to develop a hotel at the appropriate time. A purchase price was negotiated that reflected the time allotted to develop on the site and that recognized the current income from retail, lowering carrying costs. A holdback was put in place that allowed two years to clarify the ambiguous utility easement with the neighboring property owner.

The property at 545-555 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA was sold to an investor with a
long-term outlook toward development on this site. The value received allowed the seller to
redeploy capital and focus efforts developing property in its core market.

• Listing
• National Marketing
• Sale Negotiation
• Exclusive Representation
• Closing Management
• Property Inventory
• Disposition