Vulcan Inc.

Specialty: Urban development
Management: Paul G. Allen, founder; Jody Patton, president and chief executive officer
Year founded: 1986
Largest current projects: Alley 24, 2200 (formerly 2200 Westlake)

Images courtesy Vulcan Inc. Vulcan’s big project in South Lake Union is called 2200. It includes a Pan Pacific Hotel, Whole Foods grocery, 261 condos, a plaza, parking, shops and restaurants.

All sectors are warming up this year, but especially hot are the life sciences and the residential sectors, said Jim Mueller, a development director at Vulcan.

Vulcan just finished the 112,000-square-foot Seattle Biomedical Research Institute Building and 162-unit Alcyone Apartments in South Lake Union. Under construction is the first part of a research campus for the University of Washington.

Last year, the Seattle economy was just starting to pick up, and with it the real estate market. “A lot of people are looking specifically in South Lake Union, because they want to be in on the action early,” said Mueller.

More than 20,000 new jobs and at least 10,000 new residents are anticipated to move to South Lake Union, he said. It will probably take 10 to 12 years to develop the area.

Vulcan Inc. has started construction on Alley 24, a four-building, mixed-use development in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

Vulcan owns about 60 acres in the South Lake Union area and Mueller said its phones have been busy this year. “Most people vote with their feet and if they’re running towards you it’s a good thing.” He said people moving back to the city is a demographic trend nationwide.

Vulcan just started construction on the full block development Alley 24 at 223 Yale Ave. A European-style alleyway will be the hallmark for the six-story, four-building development, which will have 185,000 square feet of office space, 172 apartments and 28,000 square feet of street-level retail.

Vulcan is also working on 2200, a 550,000-square-foot mixed-use project at the southeast corner of Westlake and Denny streets. The project’s name was recently shortened from “2200 Westlake.”