Hong Gabriel, the owner of Mopaul, said that for the last 10 years, he bought the building from a group called Landgraafs-Teeft. The company, he said, paid him in cash and that he then sold them the building.

“They didn’t give me anything else but the building … as to why, I’m not really sure,” Gabriel said. He said when he started investing in property a few years ago, he put a high bid on a house his partner had purchased, and he thought the sellers would be happy to accept it for less than what he paid.

But when the pair got it, instead of turning around and finding a new buyer, Gabriel says he ended up leaving. He said what hurt the most was Landgraafs-Teeft’s claim that if he made a bid at the price he paid, he’d get the house. Instead, he said when he saw what Landgraafs-Teeft was offering him, he said he said no.

“I can say frankly that I thought nothing would come of it,” Gabriel said. “Maybe some people were willing to pay and others weren’t. It’s hard to know what to expect. But I never felt like I’d gotten a fair deal.”

The same story seems to hold for Landgraafs. In early June, Daniel Brouwer, a manager for the building’s owner, told his board that Mopaul bought the building for $17 million and it will be redeveloped in partnership with Brouwer Construction. He said the deal will bring a “high standard” to the new owners, Brouwer said, that has already brought in 10,000 new residents a year since 2007.

Brouwer also said he sold the building for $9 million.

But the deal also raises questions about Landgraafs. The company has invested significant resources in creating and rehabbing residential buildings in South Lake Union, particularly those near the downtown core. But it appears it doesn’t always follow through, even if it gives cash to investors to fund projects in advance.

Gabriel said they have a lease through 2019 for the property, but said he is not sure when he might want to move.

“Our lease does not guarantee that we continue to live here,” he said. “The thing’s there’s no guarantee that we will be able to stay here