Photo courtesy of Colliers International This 35,000-square-foot building in the North Campus Business Center at Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe business park was one of Colliers International’s largest new leasing projects in 2001.

Optimism abounded at the start of 2001, following a record year in 2000 spurred by all-time low vacancy rates, economic optimism and dot-com growth that helped to produce record commercial office space absorption, according to Gregg Riva, senior vice president for Colliers International.

But in 2001, he said, the dot-com fall out, new construction of speculative office projects, a slowing economy and the effects of Sept. 11 all contributed to a dramatic turnaround in the previously thriving Puget Sound office market.

By the end of the year, once low vacancy rates had risen to 12.6 percent in the Seattle CBD, with the Bellevue CBD at 23.68 percent and the Lynnwood submarket at 41.2 percent.

“As we ease into 2002 there are some slowly emerging signs of life,” Riva said. “There are companies starting to tour spaces again, realizing that there are going to be some very aggressive landlords vying for prospective tenants. With very low commercial loan rates there has been a gradual increase in activity on investment properties and user properties, with one big difference between buyers now and 18 to 24 months ago being that today no one is overpaying.”

These trends suggest that the Puget Sound office market may be close to bottoming out, Riva said, “but no one should kid themselves into thinking the ride back up will be as quick as the one down.”

One of Colliers’ largest local projects in 2001 was the North Campus Business Center’s Building A, a 35,000-square-foot Class A office building in Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe business park. It’s one of a three-building speculative project by local developer Bob McDonald.

In major leasing activity, Colliers’ located Regus Business Centre Corp. at 1100 Dexter Ave., Seattle, in a 120-month deal with Dexter Tristar LLC in January 2001 for $36.3 million. And, in February 2001, Colliers signed a $17.4 million, 120-month office lease between the Institute for Systems Biology and Seattle Investment Partners, the landlord, at 1441 Lake Union Center.

Last April, Colliers arranged a 144-month, $42.9 million office sublease at 501 Elliott Ave. W. for Cell Therapeutics Inc. with landlord F5 Networks.

In October the estate of James Campbell sold Northgate Village in Seattle through Colliers to Lakha Investment Co. for $13.6 million. In November, Colliers arranged for Sound Transit to buy the Lynnwood Tech Center at 20121 48th Ave. for $10.8 million from Benaroya Capital Co.