PROPERTY INVESTMENT STRATEGY

We concentrate on an area immediately south of downtown Seattle, which is the City’s original industrial district and now an urban regeneration area. Known as SODO (South of Downtown), substantial public funds are being invested. New access ramps have been installed to connect it to interstate freeways and a new light railway is under construction, bringing commuters from a major residential area, via two stations in SODO, to downtown. Two new sports stadiums, an HQ for Starbucks and a Costco superstore are tangible evidence of the transformation from industrial to mixed use.

American Life is the most active of a number of property development and management companies in SODO, creating a vibrant mixed estate of retail and commercial, refurbished and new-build properties adjacent to both downtown Seattle and the city’s port, the second largest on the west coast of the USA.

Our strategy, developed over the past decade, is to:

Acquire aging industrial properties in SODO.

Make improvements to offer refurbished units at reasonable rental rates, while providing investors with a meaningful income return and capital gain.

Create a footprint of adjoining properties which can be sold to a corporate user or developed and rented as a site for a corporate campus. (Note: this is compelling because the window to find a campus with a Seattle address close to downtown, the port and infrastructure is rapidly closing.)

Operate with the lowest possible risk by remaining free of debt, and owning all properties unencumbered by bank loans. (Note: by avoiding mortgage interest costs American Life Inc. maximizes income to its investors)