On the right track
Othello Partners' ground breaking for the Station at Othello Park coincided with the July opening of a section of the 15.5 mile Sound-Transit Link light-rail line that will connect downtown Seattle and the Seattle-Tacoma Airport when the last leg is completed in December.
But the much-anticipated light-rail inauguration didn't happen soon enough to save a number of TODs planned by companies like Opus Northwest, Unico Properties and Eagle Rock Ventures from being abandoned or postponed until the economy recovers.
The $70 million The Station at Othello Park moved forward, however, thanks to debt financing and equity from deep-pockets partner USAA Real Estate Co. Broker Rick Osterhaus, of GVA Kidder Mathews, brought the Texas-based insurance company into the deal.
Initial work on the project got underway in 2007, about the time Othello Partners President/CEO Steve Rauf began scaling back the townhouse development company he formed in 2002, after nearly two years with Opus Northwest. "I had decided to start my own business and the first name we did business under was Real Estate Investment Partners LLC. I acted as a general contractor and developer and we built 25 for-sale townhouses a year here in southeast Seattle, a lot of them within walking distance of Othello Park," said Rauf.
Switching tracks
When the financial bubble burst and the condo market collapsed, Rauf realized it was time to move his for-sale business to the back burner and focus on apartments. "It was real obvious. At the time, we were
