‘Real World: Seattle’ made Pier 70 famous. Now it’s been sold, and new reality is ahead

A three-story building on Seattle’s waterfront made famous 27 years ago by seven strangers on MTV’s “The Real World” has a new owner.

Landmark Event Co. President Dru Agarwal told The Seattle Times he purchased Pier 70 for $11 million on Wednesday. He intends to build out a space for the AI2 Incubator, a for-profit investment fund for artificial intelligence startups born from the Allen Institute, which will be Pier 70’s anchor tenant.

Agarwal also plans to keep the current retail and office tenants, which fill out a little less than 40% of the building.

Landmark’s real estate portfolio is already outfitted with historic and unique Seattle properties that Agarwal has purchased and revitalized. It runs the MV Skansonia, a ferry-turned-event venue on Lake Union, as well as the Fremont Foundry, a former metal foundry that’s also an event venue now. The Fremont Foundry was built by Seattle artist Peter Bevis who brought the bronze Lenin statue to the neighborhood.

“We basically have this reputation of taking on these old Seattle properties that aren’t traditional and figuring out the best use for them and preserving them,” Agarwal said. “You have to have a long-term perspective. You have to invest in it as if you’re going to own it forever.”

The pier played host to the seventh season of MTV’s long-running reality TV series, “The Real World.” That first Seattle installment aired in 1998, toward the end of the city’s boom in pop culture relevancy.

Grunge was giving way to a new generation of music artists, and “Singles” director Cameron Crowe was no longer basing his movies in Seattle. The seven people on the show, who all lived in Pier 70, worked at the alternative rock radio station 107.7 FM “The End.”

Pier 70, one of four privately owned piers on Seattle’s waterfront, last sold in 1995 for $276,000 to Triad Development in a bank sale, according to King County records.

Connor McClain, a broker with Colliers, and his business partner Joe Conner introduced Landmark to the property in the summer of 2024, before it was officially on the market.

“We just knew Dru was the perfect buyer and person for this project,” McClain said.

Real estate brokerage service Newmark put Pier 70 on the market in early October without a price listed. McClain and Conner facilitated the deal on Landmark’s behalf.

The 123-year-old pier needs some work. Agarwal said the price Landmark paid , much lower than the roughly $40 million assessed value King County placed on it last year, is a recognition of how much money will be poured into it.

“We’re going to be investing in the actual pilings and infrastructure of the pier itself,” he said. “And we’re investing inside. With office space in Seattle, you have to reimagine it. You can’t just sit on it and hope people come and take it.”

Agarwal and his business partner Wyatt Stack contend the hub they’re creating with AI2 Incubator will bring tech companies to the waterfront. Agarwal said the fund envisions startups coworking in the hub and tech conferences choosing the waterfront.

“This has been a really exciting acquisition to work through,” Stack, who manages Agarwal’s projects, said. “We’re lucky to have a team of trusted partners working alongside us.”

Securing AI2 Incubator as a tenant could be a small boost for Seattle’s waterfront. The area isn’t as big an office market as other parts of the city, like South Lake Union, the Denny Triangle and the downtown core, but it’s the emptiest.

Last year, almost half of the waterfront’s office space was available, according to commercial brokerage CBRE. It had the highest availability rate in the city.

Pier 70’s buyers are bullish on their ability to transform the building, but they’ll be up against the trend that’s affecting the waterfront. Companies looking for new office space have been flying to upscale, newer buildings after the pandemic lowered rents.

The waterfront mostly comprises historic buildings full of Seattle lore. The Old Spaghetti Factory building is in the submarket. The Maritime Building once held Big Fish Games, but the 114-year-old property had more than 150,000 square feet of empty space to deal with last year.

But the waterfront is undergoing an enormous face-lift. The Alaskan Way Viaduct is gone and given more office buildings clear waterfront views. On Oct. 4, the city opened the Overlook Walk, which connects the waterfront to Pike Place Market. The new Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion opened last year as well.

And the 20-acre Waterfront Park, which includes the Overlook Walk, is expected to fully open this year. The entire project cost $806 million.

Agarwal thinks all of that could work in Pier 70’s favor, despite its age.

“I think it’s the best view in Seattle,” he said. “It’s the north most point, you’re jetted out over the water.

“We’re really looking to leverage all of that because it deserves to be a place that’s a top choice for people to want to work in and to come have a drink at the restaurants.”