Orton Development Buys Plaza 600 in Seattle

Source: Seattle Red

Read the full report at Seattle Red. What the article says:

• Deal / Price / Size / Buyer

  A 20-story Seattle office tower directly across the street from Amazon's headquarters just sold for $12.5 million. Seven years ago it was valued at $97 million. That's an 87% wipeout on what should be the safest address in the city. Plaza 600 at 600 Stewart St. went to Orton Development, a California investor that specializes in buying distressed property when everyone else is running for the exits. That tells you everything about where downtown Seattle stands right now. This isn't some forgotten building on the edge of town. It sits at the front door of one of the most valuable companies on Earth, Amazon has ordered its workers back five days a week, and the tower still couldn't find enough tenants to hold its value. Downtown Seattle's office vacancy rate is now the worst of any major market in the country, and Amazon keeps shifting growth across the lake to Bellevue, where the city government isn't actively hostile to the people paying its bills. Years of crime, open drug use, and a city council that treats employers like ATMs did this. The out-of-state investor got a bargain. Seattle taxpayers get a shrinking commercial tax base and a downtown that can't refill itself. This is the downtown Seattle office market story: the Plaza 600 sale, Amazon headquarters, Seattle office vacancy, Seattle commercial real estate, Orton Development, the Denny Triangle, Bellevue vs Seattle, downtown Seattle crime, return to office, and the Seattle economy under progressive leadership.

• Deal

  Plaza 600 at 600 Stewart St. went to Orton Development, a California investor that specializes in buying distressed property when everyone else is running for the exits.

Article date: 2025-07-22T12:22:35-07:00