homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Real Estate


print  email to a friend  reprints add to mydjc  

Marc Stiles
Real Estate Editor

December 22, 2005

Many stories, little time — especially now

By MARC STILES
Real Estate Editor

In newsrooms, story leads pile up like snow in Syracuse. It seems that no matter how fast you shovel, you'll never catch up. If the Buzz were going to be here a little longer (more about this later), here's some of what he would do:

  • Try (again) to tour Blue Origin's plant. Blue Origin is the private, super-secret aerospace company launched by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos. It's moving its headquarters from South Seattle to a Kent warehouse on 76th Avenue South where rocket scientists apparently will work on a cool new craft to carry passengers to the edge of space.

  • Track down developer and architect Jim Mueller, who led mega projects in Asia before returning to Seattle to develop 30 blocks in South Lake Union for Vulcan Inc. About a year ago, he left Vulcan to work for Greg Smith's Urban Visions. He was only there about six months before departing to start a new venture. Stay tuned for details, he said last summer. We did but haven't heard anything.

  • Keep an eye on the Qwest Field north lot. King County owns the north half of the 7-acre lot and is looking for a developer to buy it, and build housing and retail. Several groups want it: City Investors, a Vulcan affiliate; Opus Northwest and Nitze-Stagen; Triad Development; and Wright Runstad & Co. and Murray Franklyn. The next step is to select the finalists, and see their proposals.

  • Find out who's buying the swanky condos at the planned Four Seasons in downtown Seattle, and watch for how much the developer, Seattle Hotel Group, pays Washington Mutual for the First and Union site.

  • Follow up on the rumor that CarrAmerica is buying the Casey Family Programs' site on the west side of Lake Union. The property includes a 78,000-square-foot office building and almost five acres in one of the West Coast's hottest markets.

  • See if Portland developer Paul Brenneke starts construction of his Second and Pine mixed-use project early in 2006, or sells the project to another developer. We're skeptical about Brenneke actually pulling the trigger on the bulky building that would house a luxury hotel, condos, fitness club and spa. Earlier this year, a spokesperson for Brenneke's company, Avalon Heights, said a rumor that Hines will take over was untrue, and to watch for an announcement about the project. We're watching.

  • Monitor the Southend's retail war. The first phase of Tarragon's Kent Station, a mixed-use project with a 14-screen cinema, is open. Just up the road in Tukwila the owners of the 1.3-million-square-foot Westfield Southcenter, the largest enclosed mall in the Northwest, are gearing up to add 400,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, including a 16-screen theater. Now comes Dallas-based Harvest Partners with The Landing, a $390 million urban village project in Renton that would add 800,000 square feet of retail plus entertainment, including a possible — you guessed it — cinema. People do like to shop and go to the movies, and experts say the Northwest is "under retailed," but all this seems excessive.

  • The retail battle could pale next to the office tower contest in Bellevue. Kemper Development is clearly in the lead with an anchor tenant for Lincoln Square. Equity Office is putting its muscle behind the speculative City Center Plaza. Hines has been quiet about its plans for the old Tech Tower site. Earlier this year, Bentall Capital said it would start building the third and final phase of Summit Office Center once it is about half preleased. And Schnitzer Northwest officials have had their game face on for months with talk about starting construction of the Bravern, which one wag says he'll call the "Gravern" if the project fails.

    More about downtown Bellevue

    Kemper Development's secret weapon in the office tower war is the critical mass in what it has dubbed the Bellevue Collection: Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place and now Lincoln Square. There's a lot more to come, according to Kemper Freeman Jr.

    In a speech last week, he said next up is doubling the size of the Hyatt at Bellevue Place, which is in the midst of a $20 million remodel. "By summer we'll start the twin," Freeman said.

    His company already is planning its next big project: the parcel south of Lincoln Square. It will have 160 condos, office space, a hotel and up to 400,000 square feet of retail, and it will be done in four years.

    Kemper Development's longtime architect, Sclater Partners Architects, is designing it, and GLY will be the contractor, according to a company spokeswoman. "We'll start to announce the beginning of these projects sometime early next year."

    Freeman said demand for condos downtown is unbelievable. Buyers are lining up to get into the tower south of Lincoln Square. "All they know is we are going to build it. If that doesn't show some market strength, I don't know what does," he says.

    Don't take this to mean demand will never end. Thirty condo projects are in the pipeline in Bellevue, according to Freeman, suggesting some poor souls will eventually find out where the end of the market is.

    That's another story to watch.

    Now there's a challenge

    For the first time, Washington State University will compete in the Pacific Northwest Real Estate Challenge this spring.

    The team from Pullman will compete against real estate, planning and finance students from the University of Washington, Portland State and the University of British Columbia in the contest, which the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties hosts.

    This year's assignment: figure out how to develop the area between the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Western Avenue, and Spring and Seneca streets.

    This is it for the Buzz

    After two-plus years of penning this column, which we hope you have found to be pithy, the Buzz is departing for a new challenge as senior writer/account executive at Nyhus Communications, a growing public relations and public affairs company.

    Discussions with President and CEO Roger Nyhus started in early November, but the ball really started rolling last winter when a friend was in town for lunch. On the way to Fado, he pointed to the Rainier Club and asked about it. He stopped to study the gabled, brick building and remarked how it would be a great place to have my retirement party. Hearing the words "retirement party" made my socks fall down. It was one of those moments that forces you to ask: Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?

    Then Nyhus came knocking with the opportunity to use skills already in my possession and learn new ones, too.

    I can see the jaws of colleagues dropping: "PR!? But that's The Dark Side!"

    They can call it what they like, but I know it's not so black and white. Besides, I want to take a chance and try something new. If I don't, my retirement party — wherever it ends up — could be a dreary affair with me looking back and wondering what might have been.


    Got a tip? Contact DJC real estate editor Brian Miller at brian.miller@djc.com or call him at (206) 219-6517.


    Previous columns:


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