The former site of Hardwick’s Hardware in the University District recently sold for just over $17.25M to Bellevue-based 4214 Roosevelt Way LLC. The LLC’s registered agent is Wei Bi, according to public records. Bi is associated with Bellevue-based Create World. An 18-story, 200-unit, mixed-use building is planned for the three-parcel site.

The sale highlights how the U-District is changing from a neighborhood environment to an extension of Seattle’s high-rise core.

The iconic 87-year-old Hardwick’s Hardware opened in 1932 and has been in its current location since 1938. The Hardwick family’s decision to close is based on high property taxes, traffic congestion and a changing city, Dean Hardwick told KIRO 7 in an interview. Hardwick’s Hardware will remain open for another 12 to 18 months, Bisnow learned in a call to the store this week. After that it will reopen in Post Falls, Idaho.

In the KIRO 7 interview, Hardwick said his property taxes went from $9K to $40K in a span of five years. Traffic congestion has also made the store inaccessible, so customers tended to stay away.

Kidder Mathews commercial real estate brokers Holly Yang and Michael Yeh represented the buyer. Kidder Mathews’ Ken Hirata and Jeff Loftus and IPA’s Giovanni Napoli and Philip Assouad represented the seller.