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“Nabbefeld”
Joe Nabbefeld
Real Estate Editor

August 10, 2000

Real Estate Buzz

Harbour Pointe hits warp speed

Three years ago, developer Dennis Vrabeck insisted the Seattle-area economy would get strong enough to boost his business park at Harbour Pointe.

The large park in the 2,300-acre Mukilteo master-planned community is one of five original parks in the 1980s string known as the Technology Corridor. Throughout the early 1990s the other parks saw more activity.

Vrabeck didn't know how right he was. The economic boom has lasted longer than just about anyone imagined, bringing more development to Harbour Pointe.

"All of a sudden we've hit warp speed," said Colliers International broker Gregg Riva, who has marketed Harbour Pointe properties for years for Vrabeck's Harbour Point Limited Partnership.

The biggest deal at Harbour Pointe came out earlier this week: Dallas-based WiredZone Holdings paid Raytheon Corp. $23 million for Raytheon's 350,000-square-foot office and manufacturing building. WiredZone plans to wire up the building as a center for both high-tech offices and a telecom hotel.

Developer Bob McDonald, meanwhile, has three separate high-tech buildings under construction on spec at Harbour Point. McDonald's three buildings would total about 100,000 square feet in a section of the park called North Campus Business Center.

Riva and Derek Heed, also of Colliers, have the job of finding tenants. They're pitching one of the buildings as 35,000 square feet of class A office space. The two others, at 31,000 and 37,000 square feet, are high tech/flex.

The structures will come with a high ratio of four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet. Rents will range between $17 and $19 per square foot, triple net, or comparable to similar Bothell space, Riva said.

North Campus covers part of a large undeveloped plot that Boeing owned for years but sold back to Harbour Pointe Limited Partnership in 1998.

The limited partnership prepared the land on 33 of those acres and has those up for sale to other developers. Riva said buyers can take plots as small as an acre.

"Zoning allows office, commercial and high-tech uses," Riva said. "The rest of the Boeing acreage is residential and retail. They're just finalizing some plans for the retail."

In another boost for Harbour Pointe, construction is underway on an overpass that will tie the park directly to Interstate 405, or at least to 405's extension, Highway 525.

"405 becomes 525 (heading west from Interstate 5), and it used to stop at Highway 99," Riva said. "Now there's an overpass in construction that basically allows 405 to drop off directly in Harbour Pointe."

Albers Mill going residential

The historic Albers Mill on the Thea Foss Waterway at the heart of Tacoma appears headed for renovation into lofts, retail and offices. The Municipal Dock Building, meanwhile, still clings to hope.

This from Dennis Johnson of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce:

"The 96-year-old mill, once a flour and grain warehouse ... sidestepped the wrecking ball and is headed for a $5.3 million renovation by developer Heritage Properties.

"The waterway's development authority unanimously voted to accept the Alaska firm's offer to convert the five-story, red brick remnant of Tacoma's working waterfront into lofts, retail shops and office space.

"Details of the deal must be finalized before the authority meets again late August," Johnson said.

"Controversy has swirled around Albers Mill, which sits next to the site of the modernistic Museum of Glass now under construction. Considered ... a hindrance to waterway development by some, the mill has been defended by preservationists as a symbol of Tacoma's rich maritime heritage," he said.

Johnson also provides an update on the Municipal Dock Building near the mill.

"Others have fought to rescue the Municipal Dock Building, a 60,000-square-foot, open-span structure built on the Foss in 1911. The original structure is likely beyond restoration, but it could be 'de-constructed' and rebuilt using similar wood, material and designs for an estimated $10 million to $11 million.

"Proposed uses for the resurrected ferry terminal range from converting it into an open-air market similar to Seattle's renowned Pike Place Market to housing a music hall or ice-skating rink."

Blume goes to school

Blume Co., the Seattle office developer with a yen for East Lake Union projects, also has a 66,500-square-foot one cooking in the University District.

Blume, led by brothers Greg and Bruce Blume, in March bought plans and permits for the building on Northeast 45th Street from ASA Properties, said Greg Blume. The site is about one-fourth of an acre.

In May, Blume began soil remediation to remove contamination left by a Packard dealership.

The project, called the Plaza Building, has no signed tenants. Blume Co. will conduct the marketing itself. Mulvanny Architects created the design and Blume hired Baugh Construction as general contractor.

Boeing's Eastgate sale is landing

Boeing Co. is getting close to selecting a buyer for its 28 acres of prime office development property near Interstate 90 in Bellevue's Eastgate area.

The aerospace company has narrowed the field to three bidders, say those following the deal.

A Boeing representative had no comment yet.

Boeing put the land up for sale earlier this year as part of shedding surplus properties to streamline the company. With office vacancy rates at record low levels, Boeing expects to reap top dollar for the property.



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