BOTHELL – The sounds of construction will resonate again in Canyon Park Business Center, which has seen little such activity since 2000.
TIAA-CREF, one of the world’s largest retirement services firms and the owner of the business park, is moving ahead to develop the Woodlands Technology Campus just off the Bothell-Everett Highway. The first four-story building, with 85,000 square feet of first-class office space, is under way.
Scott Davis, a vice president with CB Richard Ellis, said the building is being built without any tenants signed, but the developer is confident there’s a market for the office space.
“If you look at the available space in Canyon Park, it’s mostly flex space. That’s not what this is,” Davis said.
After the first building is completed in early 2007, up to three other office buildings – for a total of nearly 707,000 square feet – and a parking structure could be built at the site on either side of 214th Street SE. Plans call for keeping a wooded area that separates the property from the Bothell-Everett Highway.
At the end of March, between 10 percent and 13 percent of the Class A office space in Bothell was vacant, according to the Colliers International commercial property firm. In comparison, the firm estimated that up to 55 percent of Bothell’s manufacturing space and 24 percent of its high-tech flex space was empty.
Over the years, Canyon Park has attracted numerous biotechnology companies, high-tech manufacturers and others with its flex space, which is designed for a combination of office and industrial uses.
When the high-tech slowdown hit in 2000, demand for such space waned, and development virtually stopped at Canyon Park, said Roger Belanich, the park’s main developer.
“Obviously, that’s turned,” he said.
In addition to the Woodlands Technology development, CarrAmerica, a major owner of property around Canyon Park, is planning two new office buildings, and Amgen plans to add space to its existing facilities there, Belanich said.
Developers’ emphasis on building office space at Canyon Park, instead of more flex space, makes sense, Belanich said. The city recently increased building height limits in the area to 100 feet, and commercial land there has gained considerable value. Those factors have made the idea of building more flex space, which usually commands much lower rental rates, “economically obsolete” for Canyon Park, Belanich said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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