Vulcan Inc.

President and CEO: Jody Patton

Specialty: Private asset management for Paul G. Allen

Year founded: 1986

Headquarters: Seattle

Healey

When it comes to development, the South Lake Union neighborhood is the shining star not only of the Puget Sound region but all of the Pacific Northwest.

It helps when a company as potent as Vulcan is the main player working to develop one of the last low-density neighborhoods near the city’s core.

The company owns 52 acres, which under present zoning could accommodate 10 million square feet of development. Currently, Vulcan is working either on its own or with development partners on nine projects that total 1.8 million square feet of high-tech space, retail, housing and other uses, such as a hotel.

Add to this proposals to overhaul the street grid and build a streetcar line to downtown, and the sum is phenomenal change.

Biotechnology and other life sciences are key to Vulcan’s plans. “Every neighborhood needs an anchor,” says Ada Healey, vice president of real estate for Vulcan. In South Lake Union, it’s the University of Washington School of Medicine. Over the next decade, the school will receive $3.5 billion in new funding from the National Institutes of Health, according to Healey.

It’s not just about the life sciences. Vulcan is working to attract all sorts of companies that peddle intellectual capital, according to Healey. Vulcan has, for instance, recruited the architecture firm NBBJ to South Lake Union.

The activity is drawing other developers, such as Opus Northwest, to the neighborhood. “I think there are a number of folks who are obviously sniffing around down there,” says Healey. “There still is, quite frankly, a lot of capital here looking.”

Just because it’s Vulcan leading the charge, the neighborhood’s transformation is not a done deal. There are many challenges, from upgrading utility infrastructure to transportation. Healey calls the latter a “major, major issue.”

Vulcan is pushing to have the street grid overhauled so the neighborhood is not cut off from downtown. Then there’s the streetcar. A proposal calls for property owners to help fund its construction through formation of a local improvement district, or LID.

Streetcar boosters will try to answer City Council members’ questions so a decision on forming the LID is made in 2004. Healey is optimistic proponents will prevail. “The train will be up and running in 2006,” she predicts.