Barings and Schnitzer West Complete Sale of Seattle's Madison Centre to BXP for $730M

Barings and Schnitzer West Developed the Next-Generation Office Tower, Completed in 2017

Newmark Group Brokered the Transaction, the Largest U.S. Multi-Tenant Office Sale YTD

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and SEATTLE, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Barings, one of the world's largest diversified real estate investment managers, and Schnitzer West, one of the West Coast's leading real estate investment, development, and property management companies, announced today the $730M sale of Seattle's Madison Centre to Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP), the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of Class A office properties in the United States.

Completed in September 2017, Madison Centre is a 37-story office tower in downtown Seattle containing 760,971 rentable square feet and 480 parking stalls housed in seven levels of subterranean parking. Madison Centre's forward-thinking design already reflects the future of office, including generous outdoor amenity space, flexible collaboration space, strong health and wellness features, and onsite food and beverage. Amenities include a rooftop terrace, a great room with a signature three-story fireplace and living wall, conference/training center, boardroom, library, fitness/wellness center operated by the prestigious Washington Athletic Club, needlepoint bipolar ionization HVAC purification, and touchless entry. Madison Centre has been certified LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council and has achieved both Fitwel Built and Fitwel VRM certifications. The tower is currently 93% leased.

"Barings was proud to partner with Schnitzer West to develop Madison Centre," said Ben Green, managing director, Barings. "The Barings real estate team continues to identify best-in-class investment opportunities and deliver attractive returns for our clients. The property is positioned to compete post-COVID with exactly what tenants are looking for and has performed extremely well throughout our hold period."

"Madison Centre exemplifies the quality and performance Schnitzer West is known for," commented Schnitzer West President and Chief Operating Officer Pam Hirsch. "Our strategic investment in developing Class-A office space continues to drive significant value and deliver highly sought-after work environments that have adapted seamlessly to the changing needs of employers. BXP has acquired an asset that will stand the test of time."  

Well-located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Madison Street in Seattle's Central Business District, Madison Centre is just five blocks south of Seattle's retail core, one block west of the Interstate 5 freeway, and four blocks southeast of a Link light rail station, translating to exceptional pedestrian and transit convenience. The property has a 99% walk score and 100% transit score.

Newmark brokered the sale of Madison Centre. "This is the largest multi-tenant office sale in the nation year to date, and the asset garnered significant investor interest globally," said Kevin Shannon, co-head, U.S. Capital Markets. "This buyer depth was due in part to the trophy quality of the asset in a submarket where the fundamentals are clearly improving. Tenants post-pandemic are demanding and are willing to pay up for a best-in-class product which is reflected in absorption stats both in Seattle and nationally." Nick Kucha, Ken White and Mike Moll from Newmark assisted in the sale transaction.

About Barings
Barings is a $371+ billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment. Learn more at www.barings.com.

*Assets under management as of March 31, 2022

About Schnitzer West, LLC
Schnitzer West, LLC, is one of the West Coast's fastest-growing real estate investment, development, and property management companies. Founded in 1997 by Managing Investment Partner Dan Ivanoff of Seattle and Schnitzer Investment Corp (now MMGL Hold Co LLC.), the company has built a successful track record in the commercial and multi-family housing markets through product innovation, disciplined management, and investment expertise. Known for its commitment to "Outperform the Expected," Schnitzer West has earned recognition for creating innovative workplaces and living spaces, for delivering superior-to-market returns, and for its value-creation approach to property management. To date, it has developed or repositioned more than 10.7 million square feet of Class-A office and suburban office, flex, industrial and bio-tech space, mixed-use, and luxury multi-family residential condominiums in Seattle, Portland, and Denver. Currently, its Asset Operations group actively manages 3.8 million square feet of office and industrial property for various clients. Building on its success in the Northwest, Schnitzer West owns additional properties in Denver and is exploring new market opportunities across the Western United States. For more information, please visit: www.schnitzerwest.com.

About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries ("Newmark"), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark's comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform's global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. Newmark generated revenues of nearly $3.1 billion for the twelve months ending March 31, 2022. Newmark's company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with over 6,300 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.

Contacts

For Barings:
[email protected]

For Schnitzer West:
Colleen Moffitt
[email protected]
206-282-4923 ext. 113

For Newmark:
Alexa Nestlerode
[email protected]
949-608-2170

SOURCE Barings