BH Properties Acquires Historic Olympic Block Creative Office Building in Seattle’s Pioneer Square
Firm to Move its Pacific Northwest Office to the 74,660-Square-Foot, Mixed Use Creative Office Property
Seattle, WA—April 11, 2024–BH Properties, a vertically integrated, value-add real estate investment company, has added an iconic Downtown Seattle property to its Pacific Northwest portfolio with the acquisition of the historic Olympic Block building, a 74,660-square-foot, creative office and mixed-use property in Seattle’s generational Pioneer Square neighborhood. With the acquisition, BH Properties’ Pacific Northwest (PNW) regional operations, led by Managing Director Hughes McLaughlin, will move to Olympic Block from its current location at 107 Spring Street.
Located at 101 Yesler Way in Seattle, Olympic Block is comprised of the historic six-story Lippy Building, originally constructed in 1902, and a nine-story addition known as Olympic Block that was added in 1986. The iconic property, which is a short distance from Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park, showcases a unique blend of creative office space that is accentuated by the historic building’s exposed brick and beam ceilings, walls, and columns, perfectly embodying Pioneer Square’s irreplaceable history and promising future. The transaction amount was not disclosed.
“Great properties in terrific locations will always be in favor of discerning tenants. Olympic Block checks all of the boxes including the unsurpassed amenities within Pioneer Square, not to mention the ongoing $750 million master-planned redevelopment of the Seattle Waterfront,” said Jim Brooks, president of BH Properties. “Within the nearly 75k square feet of creative office and ground floor retail space, Olympic Block features a lease-ready spec suite program for smaller space users looking for an iconic Seattle address. We look forward to relocating our regional office to Olympic Block and enjoying the walkability of Pioneer Square.”
In addition to the onsite retail, tenants at Olympic Block enjoy being set amongst the art galleries, coffee shops, and trendy bars that have migrated to the area’s historic buildings. Olympic Block’s location on Yesler Way is one of the most accessible locations in the greater Seattle central business district, with direct access to heavy and light rail stations, bus stops, on ramps to Seattle’s major arterials, and ferry terminals.
Headquartered out of Los Angeles and with 6 regional offices, BH Properties has been ramping up its PNW presence, including the acquisition of 1601 Lind, a 197,000 square-foot office property in Renton, WA, which is fully leased to the University of Washington. BH Properties opened its first Seattle regional office in 2022 at 107 Spring Street, under the direction of McLaughlin, who joined the firm as Managing Director that same year. Hughes has spent his entire 20-year career in the greater Seattle real estate market, most recently as Senior Director, Markets Brokerage with Cushman & Wakefield. From the new Pioneer Square location, Hughes
will continue to focus on growing the firm’s value add and opportunistic real estate investment platform throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
About BH Properties
Founded 30 years ago, privately held BH Properties (https://www.bhproperties.com) is a vertically integrated real estate investment company focusing on the acquisition and management of a geographically and product diverse portfolio of assets. The Los Angeles-based company, with regional offices in San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Seattle and Riverside, CA, continues to focus on value-add transactions, distressed debt, gap financing, and ground leases. Today the company owns and operates nearly 10 million square feet across 16 states.
