MUKILTEO – A British aerospace company that is providing key parts for the Boeing Co.’s 787 has become the first “second tier” subcontractor for the new jetliner to lease space in Snohomish County.
London-based Smiths Aerospace will lease about 17,000 square feet of space at Harbour Pointe Tech Center in Mukilteo. It will move in January, relocating an existing office from Bellevue.
Smiths is providing the landing gear and high-lift actuation systems, which control the 787’s wing flaps and slats. It also has been selected by Boeing to provide one of the plane’s key avionics systems.
Gregg Riva, a senior vice president with Colliers International, said Smiths’ lease gives him hope that other 787-related contractors may move here as well.
“What it tells you is the tier-one suppliers are finally awarding contracts, and the tier-two suppliers – at least some of them – will want to be close to Boeing,” Riva said.
He and Derek Heed, also of Colliers, brokered Smiths’ lease deal with Harbour Pointe Tech Center. Terms of the lease deal were not released.
With 335,000 square feet, the Harbour Pointe building, part of the county’s Technology Corridor, also is home to CombiMatrix Corp. and Diligenz. More than half the building remains unoccupied.
The Snohomish County Economic Development Council has worked hard to attract aerospace contractors to the area, even after the expected arrival of 787 suppliers hasn’t materialized over the past two years.
“It’s been a long wait,” acknowledged Deborah Knutson, the council’s president.
She said, however, that Smiths’ decision to open an office near Boeing’s Everett plant may spur other suppliers to do so, too.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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