The 750,000-square-foot Bravern office complex on Northeast Eighth Street has a buyer lined up: Schnitzer West, the same company that built the towers nearly two decades ago.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported on July 17 that Schnitzer West is set to purchase the two Class A office buildings at 11025 and 11155 NE Eighth St.
The deal would return the property to its original developer after a turbulent stretch that saw Microsoft depart, $304 million in mortgage debt go into default, and the complex's estimated value drop by more than half.
No sale price has been disclosed.
What happened to the Bravern
Schnitzer West delivered the towers in 2009 and 2010, then sold them to Principal Real Estate Investors for $410 million. Invesco Real Estate and Australian Retirement Trust bought the complex in January 2020 for approximately $585 million, according to King County records. At that time, Microsoft occupied every floor and the property was appraised at $605 million.
Microsoft announced in September 2023 it would not renew its lease. The company had about 1,600 employees at the Bravern and vacated the space before its last lease expired in August 2025.
The property transferred to a special servicer on Sept. 5, 2025, with loan servicer notes citing "imminent monetary default." By that August, Morningstar pegged the property's value at $267.9 million.
Who it affects on the NE Eighth Street corridor
The Bravern sits within a 1.6-million-square-foot mixed-use development that includes 305,000 square feet of high-end retail and 455 luxury apartments. Retailers and restaurant operators in the Shops at the Bravern have weathered more than a year without the foot traffic Microsoft's workforce once generated.
Microsoft's broader pullback from downtown Bellevue left roughly 1.9 million square feet of office space vacant across the city. The company once employed about 9,300 people in Bellevue.
The buyer's Bellevue footprint
Schnitzer West, headquartered in Seattle with offices at 330 112th Ave. NE in Bellevue, has developed or repositioned more than 12.5 million square feet of commercial space over 29 years.
Its most recent Bellevue project, The Artise, closed a $525 million refinance earlier this year with Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Newmark. In a LinkedIn post announcing that deal, the company cited "continued capital markets confidence in the Bellevue office market."
What's next
Shawn Gilson, general manager at KG Investment Properties, said before the property entered default that his firm and The Broderick Group were designing amenities for the Bravern and planned renovations once Microsoft's lease expired. Whether Schnitzer West will continue that leasing effort or chart a new course has not been announced.
The three loans on the property mature in January 2027, giving any buyer a tight window to restructure the debt or pay it down.
Coworking company Kiln announced July 13 it will open a full floor in downtown Bellevue, adding to the mix of tenants filling space Microsoft left behind.
