Commercial Real Estate
Restoring old buildings promotes sustainability, community and beauty
Last year, Seattle was Americas sixth-fastest-growing city, according to Forbes. Much of that growth has involved tearing down old buildings and putting up new high rises, a process that often sacrifices beauty, tradition and sustainability in the service of increased density. Now, however, more developers are confronting the distinct challenges and rewards that come with…
Institutional investors prop up the housing market
Wall street investors are buying up houses in the region as they are in many other parts of the country and theyre changing the dynamic in residential real estate. Investment in the Puget Sound region has been strongest in Pierce County, where institutional investors accounted for 19 percent of all purchases last September, compared to…
Metzler Real Estate’s value system
With foreign investors eager to acquire commercial properties in the United States, Seattle-based investment adviser Metzler Real Estate has stepped up the hunt for prime buildings for its overseas clients. It wont be easy. With as much global capital coming into the United States as there is today, its a challenge to place that capital…
Foreign investors like Seattle real estate.
While names like Boeing, Microsoft, and Starbucks have helped Seattle build a global brand, the reality for commercial real estate investors has been that Seattle has largely remained a second-tier market for foreign investors. That situation has begun to change as new workers pour into the region and well-known tech giants like Amazon, Google and…
On Reflection: Eastern Exposure
Seattle developer Wright Runstad & Company and San Francisco-based financial partner Shorenstein Properties have broken ground on a $2.3 billion project to create a pedestrian-friendly development on 36 acres along the north side of the Bel-Red Corridor in Bellevue. When completed, the Spring District will cover 16 city blocks with 3.7 million square feet of…
Seattle based home improvement network Porch launches today
Until now, there has been no free and social site to improve your home. On Porch, you can explore 90 million home projects including photos and costs across the US and search 1.5 million local professionals to get inspired, educated and complete work on your home. See the Seattle Business magazine feature on Porch CEO…
Four of the top ten in the “One Thousand Top Booming Suburbs in America” list are Close to Seattle
Cottage Lake, Sammamish, Mercer Island and Maple Valley all scored above 971 out of 1,000 putting them in the top ten of Caldwell Banker’s list of “Top Booming Suburbs” based on levels of employment, access to good schools, safety and other factors. As America continues to bounce back from the recession, this ranking identifies suburbs…
Retailers are returning to Seattle
With more than 10,700 apartment units under construction in the Seattle metro area and 7,000 expected to be completed this year, there will be a surge of new houshold formation. That’s attracting retailers back to the city, reports Marcus & Millichap in its latest market review. Target was an early entrant with its store in…
Rental Market Remains Robust Driving Apartment Purchases and Rent Increases
Seattle’s rental market remains red hot according to a market report relesed today by Marcus&Millichamp, confirming a large feature we ran in our April issue. The report points out that demand continues to outpace supply resulting in multiple offers for many apartment properties. Strong job growth continues to be the most important factor driving demand….
Rental Housing Is Booming
Seattle area real estate developers are making a $5.4-billion bet that the regions rental housing market will not outstrip demand over the next several years despite a 2013 apartment construction boom. With an estimated 30,000 rental units in some phase of planning and development in the five-county region, as many as 9,000 new apartment units…
On Reflection: Seattle’s Basketball Arena and SODO
Chris Hansens proposed home for an NBA franchise (and maybe a hockey team, too) is still in the arguing phase, but already there is considerable speculation and concern about the impact of the arenas construction, according to a recent research report issued by the real estate services firm Kidder Mathews Segner. Its not just the…
Spotlight: Idea Factory in Pioneer Square
The Center for Impact and Innovation opened last fall in the former Masins Furniture building in Pioneer Square. Havent heard of it? It is a joint venture of The HUB Seattle, a co-working space for social entrepreneurs, the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, which offers MBAs focused on social responsibility, and Social Venture Partners, which connects philanthropists…
Hoop Dreams: Impact of arena questioned
When a basketball arena moves into the neighborhood, what happens? Chris Hansens proposed home for an NBA franchise (and maybe a hockey team, too) is still in the arguing phase, but already there is considerable speculation and concern about the impact of the arenas construction, according to a recent research report issued by the real…