An entity affiliated with Weidner Apartment Homes has purchased a retail property in Kirkland that was rezoned in 2025 for dense mixed-use development. The site, which totals 1.26 acres, sits at 9755 Juanita Drive NE, adjacent to Weidner’s headquarters. The acquisition deepens the Kirkland-based multifamily investor’s presence in its home market, according to a sale that was recently recorded by King County.
Public records show the buyer paid $8.5 million for the property. The 1.26-acre parcel is improved with an 18,387-square-foot retail building constructed in 1960. The single-tenant building is currently leased to arts and crafts retailer Michaels, which continues to operate at the location. The underlying site was rezoned last year to allow dense mixed-use development, marking a shift in its long-term land use potential while it remains in retail use today.
The seller in the transaction was local investor Carl Pettersson. Pettersson’s family acquired the property in 1997 for $1.33 million, holding it for nearly three decades before this sale. The property’s current assessed value of $5.28 million sits about 61% below the price paid by the Weidner-affiliated buyer, underscoring the premium investors are willing to pay relative to assessment for a rezoned, income-producing retail asset in this location.
Kidder Mathews brokered the sale, with a capital markets team of Dylan Simon, Jerrid Anderson and JD Fuller representing the seller. According to reporting from the Puget Sound Business Journal, the brokers generated six competitive offers for the site and also sourced the ultimate buyer. The level of bidding interest highlights active investor demand for well-located, rezoned commercial properties that combine current income with longer-term redevelopment optionality.
The property sits next to Weidner Apartment Homes’ headquarters in Kirkland, aligning the acquisition with the multifamily investor’s immediate trade area. While no future development plans were disclosed, the combination of a stable tenant in Michaels, long-term ownership history under Pettersson, and recent zoning changes for higher-density mixed-use use frames the deal as a notable trade in Kirkland’s evolving retail and mixed-use landscape.
