Bellevue’s core shopping destination may be changing hands. The Freeman family, longtime owners of Kemper Development Co., announced late August that it’s exploring a sale of the Bellevue Collection, the 5.5-million-square-foot complex that anchors downtown Bellevue. The family says the decision was driven by several factors, including Kemper Freeman Jr.’s retirement last year.
The Bellevue Collection is made up of four connected developments: Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place, Lincoln Square North, and Lincoln Square South. Together, they add up to more than 200 shops, over 50 restaurants and entertainment venues, 1,100 hotel rooms, and 12,500 parking spaces. Commercial tenants span both global and local names. The property also includes residential options at Two Lincoln Tower, where luxury apartments currently rent for between $5,250 and $27,770 a month.
The Freeman family has deep roots in the property. Kemper Development Co. was founded in 1946, three years before Bellevue became an incorporated city, and built the original Bellevue Square under Kemper Freeman Sr. His son, Kemper Freeman Jr., took over the business in the 1970s and ran it for more than five decades, growing it into the sprawling complex that exists today.
The site itself carries a more complicated history. Before 1942, the land was home to dozens of strawberry farms run by around 60 Japanese immigrant families, who were displaced and sent to incarceration camps during World War II under federal order.
For now, the sale process is just getting underway, and the family says it’s looking for a buyer who values the property’s role in the community and has the resources to keep building on what’s there. Kemper Development Co. hasn’t said what the sale might mean for pricing or timeline, and operations at the property aren’t expected to change in the meantime, with events continuing as planned throughout the year.
This post was based on information found on The Seattle Times.
