Hong Kong investor GAW to buy a second building in Seattle

Seattle

GAW Capital Partners, the Hong Kong-based investor that led a record Seattle office purchase this month, plans to buy a second building in the city, two sources said. The real estate private equity firm agreed to pay about US$50 million for Seattle Tower, a 27-storey Art Deco office property built in 1929, said the people, who said the purchase by made by Gaw's US affiliate Downtown Properties. The seller is Invesco Real Estate, which paid US$30.5 million for the building in 2011.

Seattle's growing base of technology jobs, led by Amazon.com, has drawn foreign and domestic investors to its commercial real estate and helped boost home prices and rents in the area to record highs. "We are bullish on the Seattle market and we are continuing to look for opportunities in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles," a Downtown Properties official said. BLOOMBERG