Meriwether Partners

Meriwether acquired 1440 NW Hoyt in an off-market transaction in October 2014 from an owner-user. The site included a 40,000 square foot two-story industrial building and an adjacent 4,300 square foot parking lot. As part of the acquisition, Meriwether also acquired a 72,000 square foot warehouse in Portland’s Guild’s Lake industrial district. Plans were developed to renovate and expand the existing 40,000 square foot building to include 75,000 square feet of creative office space on six floors. Just prior to pulling the building permit, an unsolicited offer to purchase the site was received from an institutional apartment developer. The decision to sell the site, rather than move forward with the redevelopment, was based on generating strong returns without incurring construction, financing, lease-up or capital market risks. Meriwether sold the parking lot in February 2016 and the 40,000 square foot building in June 2016. These sales, combined with the earlier sale of the Premier Industrial building in October 2015, generated a combined IRR of 31% and a 1.4x equity multiple over the 21-month hold period.

Meriwether acquired Tansbourne Commerce Center in October 2011. The 4-building project consists of three office buildings and one flex building and is located in the Sunset Corridor submarket of greater Portland. Two of the office buildings and the flex building were 100% leased and a 50,000 square foot building was vacant at the time of acquisition. Overall, the project was 72% leased at acquisition. During the hold period, a long-term lease with Grass Valley was executed for the vacant 50,000 square foot building and two buildings totaling 80,000 square feet were re-leased to Kaiser Health and Nike. Meriwether sold the portfolio in March 2016 to an institutional real estate fund for $31 million, generating an IRR of 28% and a 2.6x equity multiple over the 51-month hold period.

Meriwether acquired the 19th & Mercer development site in August 2012 with construction beginning immediately thereafter. The 18,900 square foot site is located at the intersection of 19th Avenue East and East Mercer Street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. The 4-story development project included 50 market-rate apartment units above 6,000 square feet of commercial space and 47 parking stalls. Meriwether delivered the project to the market in November 2013 and acheived stabilized occupancy in February 2014. Meriwether sold 19th & Mercer in December 2015 to a private investor in an off-the-market transaction for $25.2 million, generating an IRR of 34% and a 2.4 equity multiple over the 40-month hold period.

Meriwether acquired the industrial building at 2850 NW 31st Avenue in an off-market transaction in October 2014 from Premier Press, an owner-user. The 72,000 square foot property is located in the Guild’s Lake Industrial Sanctuary just 2.5 miles outside of downtown Portland. The Seller leased the property back at closing for eight months in order to build a new headquarters. Meriwether sold the vacant building in October 2015 to a corporate owner-user generating an IRR of 52.8% and a 1.50x equity multiple.

Meriwether acquired 4550 SW Macadam Avenue in December 2010 from a private investor. At the time of acquisition, Fiserv EFT occupied the entire building. Meriwether subsequently extended the Fiserv EFT lease for five years. Meriwether sold the building in October 2015 to a private investor for $12.25 million, generating an IRR of 28% and a 2.9x equity multiple.

Meriwether acquired the Pacific Building in December 2007. The 23-story office building is located in downtown Seattle and includes 219 parking stalls on floors two through seven. The building suffered from an image problem as the prior owner was not inclined to upgrade the common areas or offer competitive TI packages. Immediately after closing, a new third-party property management team was hired, all vendor contracts were re-bid, operating costs were significantly reduced, the parking contract was re-bid (increasing parking revenue by 50%), and a significant renovation of the interior common areas and exterior was implemented.

Meriwether acquired Wallingford Plaza in June 2011 from Banner Bank. The 3-story commercial building with ground floor retail and two floors of office is located in the heart of the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. At the time of closing, the building was 75% leased (including a new lease with Walgreens for the entire ground floor retail space and a portion of the second floor). The base building upgrades and tenant improvements associated with the new Walgreens lease began immediately after closing with the tenant taking occupancy in March 2012. In 2013 two additional office leases were signed, bringing the building to 100% occupancy. Meriwether sold Wallingford Plaza in December 2013 to an institutional investor generating an IRR of 24.6% and a 1.71x equity multiple.

Tanasbourne Corporate Park is a one-story office building located in Hillsboro, OR. Just after closing on the acquisition in December 2010, Meriwether put the property under contract to sell to Umpqua Bank. This sale closed in January 2011 at $3.65 million and generated a 2.1x equity multiple.

Meriwether acquired the Central Building in October 2005. The 7-story office building is located in downtown Seattle and was 65% leased at the time of acquisition. The property was not well managed, showed poorly, and suffered from poor tenant relations. The investment was predicated on buying a well-located building at a fraction of replacement cost in a rising office market. We immediately brought in a new, third-party on-site management team, re-bid all vendor contracts, significantly lowered operating costs, implemented a new tenant relations program, and made significant upgrades to the common areas. With the building looking and operating better, Meriwether aggressively marketed the available space and, within 12 months of closing, increased occupancy to over 98%. Meriwether sold the Cental Building in August 2007 to an institutional investor for $43.1 million generating an IRR of 81.5% and a 2.9x equity multiple.

Meriwether acquired Blanchard Plaza in April 2004. Blanchard Plaza is a 15-story office building located in downtown Seattle. At the time of acquisition, the property was 86% occupied, with over 139,000 square feet leased to the GSA on a long-term basis. Over the first 18 months of ownership Meriwther completed a $5+ million tenant improvement project for the GSA and significantly upgraded the building’s image with a renovation of the lobby, elevator cabs, and common area hallways. Meriwether executed over 64,000 square feet of leases at rates above proforma to significantly reduce the rollover risk. Meriwether sold Blanchard Plaza in March 2006 to an institutional investor generating an IRR of 61.4% and a 2.45x equity multiple.