(Image: King County)
(Image: @kortneygloska and @raincityfit)
Powerlifters are making some heavy real estate investments on Capitol Hill.
The brokers behind the $10.1 million deal have announced the sale of 13th Ave’s Auto Accessories building with plans for “a recreational or sporting use.”
CHS reported in the summer of 2024 on the development maneuverings around one of Capitol Hill’s last auto row blocks as plans were filed for demolition of the 1920-era warehouse to make away for a new seven-story, multifamily mixed-use apartment building.
The announcement of the new deal says “future plans for the site have not been publicly disclosed” — “though it may be considered for a recreational or sporting use.”
The buyer is Horikoshi Enterprises, a corporation set up this year by investor Seishu Horikoshi, a real estate investor with an interest in, yes, powerlifting.
A permit filing in March applied to change a small portion of the 23,040 square-foot building to a new “assembly” use for a gym from Rain City Fit.
RCF has been busy re-shaping several pockets of Capitol Hill for its fitness and weightlifting projects. CHS reported in January on early planning for a new RCF Barbell Club on Boylston Ave that would transform a 1923-era garage into a new 6,000-square-foot gym. The permitting process for that project is still underway, according to the latest city filings.
Rain City Fit’s Ben Koenigsberg purchased the Boylston auto row-era property last year for $2.7 million according to King County records.
Back on 13th Ave, the Auto Accessories building has been part of the neighborhood for more than 100 years and has remained in its longtime family ownership. The city’s business permit registry says the discount auto parts concern dates back to 1958. Its two-story, masonry warehouse has stood on the block since the 1920s.
According to the announcement, the buyer was represented by Peter Argeres and Nathan Benedict of Ewing & Clark, “in a deal worth approximately $442/sf (lot) and $438/sf (bldg.).” The sellers were represented by Berkadia Real Estate Advisors.
The block is already home to the “ultra-luxury, ultra-sustainable” Solis development at 13th and Pike. In 2023, the Morningside Academy private schools made the commercial building at 13th and Pine its offices.
Meanwhile, across the street, national ghost kitchen venture CloudKitchens operates a Capitol Hill edition of its delivery-focused food and drink concept — complete with the start-up’s controversial business practices. Next door, The Cuff still thrives, now under new ownership.
Now the Auto Accessories has a new owner, and, apparently, a muscular future on 13th Ave.
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