homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Real Estate


print  email to a friend  reprints add to mydjc  

January 14, 2000

Real Estate Buzz

Last month when Triad Development announced plans to build the 13-story Colman Tower in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, there were rumblings among old-timers that an old ship, known as a bark, was buried at the site that is bordered by Post and Western avenues and Columbia and Marion streets. Initially the story was dismissed as an urban myth. A little digging at the library, however, has unearthed a salty story that is oh-so-Seattle.

Included in the tale is a place called Useless Bay where, according to news accounts, a ship named the Windward ran aground in 1875. The ship was salvaged and towed to what was once the beach of Puget Sound but is now the Colman block. Two Seattle Times articles, one undated and the other from 1936, show that indeed the Windward once rested on the site. Here's what the undated piece states:

"For years the old hulk was the summer playground for all the boys in the city. Greased poles, spring boards and many other devices were rigged up, quite comparable to our lake playgrounds of present day. And there is not a native son living today but what can look back and reminisce on the many happy days on the old Windward. She was never disturbed and even to this day, were one to open up the street in the vicinity of Western Avenue and Marion Street, there would be found the remains of the old craft."

The 1936 article relates a similar story:

"The 782-ton bark came to grief on Dec. 20, 1875. In command of Capt. A.E. Williams, the Windward sailed from Seattle with a cargo of lumber for San Francisco and at 5:45 o'clock in the afternoon it ran ashore in Useless Bay, Whidbey Island, during a thick fog. This ship was a total loss and was towed to the Seattle waterfront, where its remains (at) rest today under the city center."

Triad Chairman John Goodman said that while the story is intriguing he isn't worried about Colman Tower construction getting bogged down in an archaeological dig. That's because he believes there's no ship there. He thinks the writers of the articles must have overlooked other events that happened between 1875 and 1903.

"For one, the Colman Building basement is below the original beach grade where the Windward was said to have sat," Goodman says. "If there were a wreck, it would have been removed when construction began in 1903.

"The same goes for the site that will soon be home to Colman Tower. Right now, that plot of land is a parking lot. What few people know, though, is that below the blacktop is the original basement of the Societe Candy Building. Like the Colman Building, Societe's cement basement is 10-feet deep -- providing no room for a 19th-century shipwreck."

Goodman adds that Triad has made numerous borings on the site and found no evidence of a ship. "We also have dug two substantial holes on the property -- each about 20 feet deep. Again, no evidence of a ship."

A hot topic among commercial real estate pros revolves around Opus Northwest and amazon.com. Folks are wondering how the super-busy Opus, which has 2 million square feet under construction and 3.5 million square feet in the pipeline, will be able to sell its high-profile Opus Center @Union Station. "All this talk about these dot com companies is really throwing developers in a tizzy," said one observer. "How do you underwrite a lease? How does a prospective buyer? What investor wants to buy a building where the tenant can't make money? That's a tremendous risk."

Responding is a bit tricky for Opus. The company apparently is under strict orders from amazon officials not to talk about their 350,000-square-foot Union Station lease that was the talk of Seattle-area brokers last year. Opus Northwest Vice President Tom Parsons managed to discuss the issue without mentioning any online retailer or even the name of South America's mightiest river.

He said landlords do deals based not only on the credit worthiness of tenants but on the strength of the underlying real estate. If something did happen to a particular tenant, several questions must be addressed. How long would it take to re-lease the space? And how much would that cost?

As the builder, Opus, of course, is the investor today, "and we are comfortable building" Opus Center @Union Station, said Parsons, who declined to say how close the company is to selling the three-building office development. "I would only say we are pleased with the entire process."

What's in and what's out for 2000? Norris, Beggs & Simpson, the plucky commercial real estate company with an office in Bellevue, has some ideas and issued them in a recent missive. The results are a mixed bag with both heartening news and news that will cause heartburn.

On the outs: Sprawl, overbuilding, investment in retail property and, alas, lower interest rates.

On the ins: e-commerce companies everywhere, density, higher permit fees, suburban office investment and increasing land prices.

Pity poor Whoopi Goldberg, who has gone from class-act comic and Oscar-winning actress to yutz. First she shamelessly occupies the center square of the vacuous game show "Hollywood Squares," and now she's in cahoots with The Most Important Company in the History of the World and its online real estate service: MSN HomeAdvisor.

Microsoft recently issued a flowery press release about how travelers in cyberspace can get "the only close-up view" of Goldberg's restored 1860 Connecticut farmhouse, which is on the market. "This is one virtual program not to be missed," gushes the release that also seeks to entice visitors by noting that the tour includes sneak appearances by -- be still my heart -- Goldberg herself.

Sadly, even Goldberg gets into the act. The release quotes her as saying: "I love the fact that people around the country -- even around the world -- can see what a beautiful place Connecticut is to live. I'm excited to use virtual tours to help sell my home."

Both of Goldberg's gigs with "Hollywood Squares" and MSN HomeAdvisor are further evidence that the one commodity the world is running short on is dignity.



Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.