Blue Vista Lands $54M Refi for Student Housing in Seattle

Blue Vista Capital Management has snagged a $53.5 million loan tied to a 177-unit student apartment complex in Seattle’s University District.

The Chicago-based developer led by Robert Byron and Peter Stelian secured the floating-rate refinancing linked to the seven-story Theory U District building at 4759 15th Avenue NE, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. Terms of the loan were not disclosed.

Blue Vista took out the bridge loan in February from Prudential Insurance, based in New Jersey. The deal was facilitated by PGIM Real Estate, the asset management arm of Prudential.

The funds, according to PGIM, will refinance the property’s construction loan, cover the closing costs and repatriate sponsor equity. In 2021, BOK Financial, based in Tulsa, issued the $55.9 million construction loan.

The apartments, co-developed with Atlanta-based PeakMade Real Estate two blocks from the University of Washington, opened in time for the 2022 fall quarter.

“As college enrollment numbers increase, traditional dorms are struggling to keep pace, leading to strong demand for alternative student housing options,” Craig Foreman, executive director at PGIM, said in a statement.

Blue Vista and PeakMade bought the three-quarters acre site in 2019 for $17 million, according to the Business Journal. The seller was University Christian Church, which had operated there for 90 years. The Tudor Gothic sanctuary, built in 1927, was bulldozed for the student housing.

King County assessed the 159,000-square-foot student complex with 441 beds at $108 million.

It’s not clear why co-owner PeakMade, a property management, development and consulting services firm for multifamily and student apartments, wasn’t named on the refinancing loan.

The student housing near U-Dub was part of an expansion by PeakMade and Blue Vista of their Theory-branded housing in major university markets. The companies own 90 properties near 61 colleges.

— Dana Bartholomew