The Freeman family is exploring a sale of The Bellevue Collection, the 5.5-million-square-foot complex at the heart of downtown Bellevue.

Kemper Development Company (KDC) announced Aug. 28 that the family would explore selling the property. In mid-September, the company confirmed it had selected Eastdil Secured Savills, a global real estate investment bank, to lead the process.

The collection spans Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place and Lincoln Square North and South. It includes three office towers, three hotels, luxury apartments, more than 200 stores, over 50 restaurants and two movie theaters, according to the company's announcement.

The parcels are appraised at more than $1.8 billion, according to King County records cited by the Seattle Times. A 2023 retail study commissioned by the city found the collection draws 13 million visits a year, the Seattle Times reported.

No asking price has been disclosed, and no buyer has been identified.

Why the family is selling

Kemper Freeman Jr., who spent more than five decades building the collection, retired in 2025 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The family only recently disclosed the condition, the Seattle Times reported. His two daughters deliberated for months before deciding to sell, Jim Melby, CEO of Kemper Development, told the Seattle Times.

"The shorthand of the decision is Kemper's shoes are too big to fill," Melby told the Seattle Times.

The family prefers to sell to a single buyer. The properties are connected by sky bridges and function as one operation, Melby said.

Eight decades on one block

The story starts in 1945, when Kemper Freeman Sr. bought a 10-acre tract on 104th Avenue Northeast, according to the Seattle Times' retrospective. Construction began that year. On Aug. 20, 1946, Frederick & Nelson department store held a grand opening at the new Bellevue Shopping Square. The mall opened with 16 tenants and grew to 45 stores by 1966.

Freeman Jr. joined the business in the 1970s after serving in the Washington State House of Representatives. In 1980, father and son broke ground on an expansion that enclosed the mall and doubled its size to more than 1 million square feet with four anchor department stores by 1985.

Freeman Sr. died in 1982. His son took over the company and kept building. Construction on Bellevue Place, including a Hyatt Regency hotel, began in 1986. In 2003, the family bought the stalled Lincoln Square project. In 2017, it completed the 1.5-million-square-foot Lincoln Square South, adding an office tower, luxury apartments and the W Bellevue hotel.

What's at stake

Patrick Bannon, president and CEO of the Bellevue Downtown Association, wrote in a Sept. 1 note that the Freeman family's "vision and investment helped shape the identity and success of our downtown," according to 425 Business.

Richard Peiser, an emeritus professor at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, expressed concern about the transition. "I don't see how it can be great for Bellevue," Peiser told the Seattle Times, adding that outside ownership may not match the family's level of attention.

The sale process has no announced timeline. KDC said the collection will continue to operate normally while the exploration proceeds.