The Puget Sound Business Journal reported today a big sale in our neighborhood, now that “the building that houses the Dubliner Restaurant and Bar and 23 apartments at 3515 Fremont Ave. N. in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood has been sold for $4.05 million.”
The article went on to say that the broker of the deal, Paragon Real Estate Advisors, will convert the apartments into a pensione-style hotel, or a hostel (which to us, are two very different things). In a follow-up phone call, Paragon told us the buyer, Gilbraltar Capital, told them they’re going to “upgrade the property, that’s for sure.” The deal closed Monday, they said.
The seller, Steel Icon LLC, “is a private investment and property management group. All investments and properties are owned by the shareholders.” The first of the portfolio photographs on its site is of the Lake Union Building that includes The Dubliner.
One tenant we caught coming out of the Lake Union Apartments (3717 1/2 Fremont Ave. N.) that are above the Irish pub said he received a letter on May 5 stating that the building had been sold, effective on June 1, and that there were rumors the studio apartments would be turned into some kind of hotel, but that there was no indication they had to move out immediately. The tenant we talked to had only been there for one month and had planned on being there temporarily.
Although the TV and games were on at the Dubliner, doors were locked and no one was in sight for us to talk to about the sale and its aftermath.