County’s industrial space filling up; inventory increases
Investors are buying office buildings and business parks; leases are being signed; and new structures are going up in Snohomish County.
Gary Bullington, a director with Cushman &Wakefield, said the vacancy rate for industrial space in the county dipped below 10 percent in the final quarter of 2006. A year ago, that rate was just under 14 percent.
Tenants filled up 1.4 million square feet of industrial space countywide, compared with 770,000 square feet leased or filled in King County’s Eastside suburban area. That’s despite the fact that the Eastside area has about twice as much manufacturing and warehouse space in total than Snohomish County, Bullington said.
In Everett alone, businesses leased 60 percent more industrial space in 2006 than in 2005.
“That speaks volumes about the market,” he said.
Bullington added that about 900,000 square feet of new industrial space was built locally last year, up from just 104,000 square feet built in 2005.
Investors also have been buying office buildings in the county, but demand for that space still is lagging despite the booming economy. In the fourth quarter, the office vacancy rate stayed static at 17 percent, Cushman &Wakefield reported. Average rental rates for office space also virtually stood still during the quarter.
Bullington said low office vacancies in Seattle and Bellevue and rising rents there, along with a revival among high-tech companies, is putting more attention on Snohomish County’s office space.
Gamut360 Holdings moves
into Everett Gateway Center
Gamut360 Holdings, a real estate development and business investment company, recently moved to a new location in the recently completed Everett Gateway Center, at 3726 Broadway Ave., Suite 301, in Everett.
The Everett Gateway Center, a Gamut360 project, is next to Everett Memorial Stadium and includes three separate buildings with more than 47,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. Businesses already located there include Mountain Pacific Bank, Healthforce Partners, Cascade Rehabilitation, IHOP Restaurant and Western Washington Medical Group, among others.
Coast Real Estate Services
celebrates 20 years
This year marks Coast Real Estate Services’ 20th year in business offering property management, brokerage, leasing and investment services to clients from offices in Everett, Tacoma, Portland, Spokane and Boise.
Everett-based Coast is owned by co-founders Tom Hoban, chief executive, and Shawn Hoban, president.
Home sales down 15 percent;
prices continue to rise
December home sales dropped in Snohomish County, but prices continued to rise, according to information released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Sales for both condominiums and single-family homes dropped about 15 percent in December in comparison with a year ago.
December followed the trend for about the past six months where listings rose dramatically, sales slumped and prices continued to climb. Unlike many areas of the country, prices in the county continue to rise each month. In 2006, the monthly increases were more moderate than in 2005.
Prices rose by 14.3 percent in December, a little less than year-ago figures. Listings, the number of homes for sale, were about 3,636 in December, a 34 percent increase from December 2005, when there was a shortage of available homes.
One slight difference in comparison with the recent trends is that pending sales, those under way that didn’t close, dropped only by 6 percent in December. In November, pending sales were down 21 percent from the previous year.
While the market has declined in recent months, sales overall for 2006 were strong, industry experts say.
Everett, land developer
coming to terms on riverfront property
A major land deal between the city of Everett and developer OliverMcMillan was expected to be approved in late January, with the San Diego, Calif.-based company offering to pay $8 million for 216 acres of former heavy industrial land on the banks of the Snohomish River.
On Jan. 17, general terms of the agreement were aired publicly for the first time at a City Council workshop, with a final vote scheduled for Jan. 31 (past the business journal’s press time).
OliverMcMillan plans to transform the polluted site into an ecologically friendly project with a minimum of 400,000 square feet of retail space and at least 100 hotel rooms or residential units. Of the retail area, at least 150,000 square feet would be squared away for small boutiques.
The company also said it plans to develop the site to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Silver standards. That’s the second of four levels of certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Maintaining 2.3 miles of public trails leading to the waterfront and building a three-acre park are among many commitments the city is pledging for the development.
It has also left negotiations agreeing to grade the land for development, to design a methane collection system over the landfill and to relocate Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks and the city’s animal shelter.
Roughly half of the land, much of it sensitive wetlands, are expected to be preserved, offering recreational opportunities for birdwatchers.
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