So far......no banks in sight.
Developer Touchstone buys Cascade Natural Gas property for $9.2 million
The Seattle company said it has no immediate plans for the property in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times business reporter
One of Seattle's most active developers has bought almost a full block in the fast-changing South Lake Union neighborhood.
Touchstone purchased most of the block bounded by Fairview Avenue North, John Street, Minor Avenue North and Thomas Street from Cascade Natural Gas this week for $9.2 million, according to county property records.
Touchstone has no immediate plans for the property, founder Douglas Howe said Friday. "We think it represents a good opportunity going forward," he said. "It's a property we've been looking at over the years, but it was never the right time."
Touchstone has attracted attention in recent months for acquiring new properties and proposing new projects while other developers have hunkered down to ride out the recession. The South Lake Union acquisition is the firm's first in that neighborhood.
The King County Assessor's office has valued the 1.76-acre site at $14.2 million — $5 million more than Touchstone paid.
The property, blocks from Amazon.com's new headquarters complex, is considered ripe for redevelopment. Two two-story 1950s office buildings and parking lots occupy the site.
It was Cascade Natural Gas' headquarters for decades. The utility, whose service areas are outside the Seattle area, put the property on the market last year and announced it was moving its headquarters to the Tri-Cities.
Current zoning limits new buildings to 85 feet. But city officials are weighing new zoning alternatives for South Lake Union that would allow residential towers up to 300 feet and nonresidential buildings up to 240 feet on the Fairview side of the block.
Touchstone's development plans will hinge to a great extent on what the city decides, Howe said.
The purchase doesn't include two small parcels that together account for about 12 percent of the block: a dental office building and a restaurant.
Touchstone has talked with the owners of those properties, Howe said, but doesn't need to acquire them to develop the property it already owns.
Touchstone has been developing property in the Seattle area for 20 years. Two weeks ago, Howe said the private company hoped to break ground in 2012 on a 15-story office, hotel and retail project in downtown Bellevue.
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