EVERETT — The Boeing Co. has approached the Port of Everett to see whether the public agency would be willing to buy company buildings in Everett and then lease them back.
There haven’t been any specific discussions, and any deal would not involve the company’s massive main factory building, said John Mohr, the port’s executive director, in acknowledging the discussions.
The sale-leaseback deal would be different from the rumored sale of Boeing’s Wichita facilities. But it would fit in with a broader pattern that Boeing has followed in recent years — reducing the company’s real estate holdings.
"The concept is the same," said Peter Jacobs, an analyst with Ragen Mackenzie in Seattle. "You’re still building as many airplanes. You’re still recording the same revenues. It’s just your asset base has declined."
A Boeing spokeswoman said it was too early to speculate on whether the company will pursue the leaseback option.
Boeing broached the idea with the port during the 7E7 site selection process, Mohr said. Boeing’s 7E7 contract with the state spells out that the property tax breaks the company will get for assembling the new jet in Everett also would apply to any leasehold taxes the company pays in lieu of property taxes, should it decide to sell any buildings and rent them from the port.
There haven’t been any further discussions since the contract was signed in December, Mohr said. But the port has the authority to make that kind of deal and would be willing as long as the port and company could agree on terms, he said.
The port couldn’t realistically put together a deal for Boeing’s 98-acre factory building, Mohr said. However, there are smaller manufacturing buildings around the site that the port could buy and lease back to Boeing or one of its suppliers, he said.
"If they have an interest in that, at some point we will," he said.
The Snohomish County Assessors Office values the factory and the buildings immediately around it at $429.4 million. Boeing’s buildings adjacent to Paine Field and its Seaway office center are assessed separately.
The Associated Press reported Monday that Boeing is considering selling its entire Wichita, Kan., fabrication division. The list of rumored buyers includes GKN Aerospace Services, a British company that bought Boeing’s Hazelwood, Mo., facility in 2001, and Carlyle Group, a holding company that owns Boeing 7E7 partner Vought Aircraft Industries and Contour Aerospace of Everett.
Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher on Tuesday denied that such a sale is being considered.
However, selling a business unit and selling particular buildings would fit within "the same philosophy of moving to the top of the food chain and staying lean," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group in Virigina.
Selling a building and then leasing it back is a common tactic. "You see that here and there in the manufacturing world," Jacobs said.
It has a number of benefits, the analysts said. For one, it provides a short-term infusion of cash. For another, it lowers the total assets a company carries on its books, which improves its return on assets.
Money a company has tied up in a building or other asset can be invested someplace where it earns better returns, or can be used to pay down debt.
"It’s a better use of capital," Jacobs said.
Boeing has been steadily reducing its real estate holdings around Puget Sound, Jacobs noted, selling land in Kent and consolidating in Renton.
In Snohomish County, Boeing has vacated its former Harbour Pointe building in Mukilteo and the Bomarc building near Paine Field.
In both cases, Boeing has opted to lease, not sell, the buildings. Two tenants have signed deals for portions of the Bomarc building, while one is taking part of Harbour Pointe.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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