Looks Don’t Count

It’s Not Pretty, but Bakerview Hannegan
Area Offers Much to Variety of Businesses

Article by John Cain
Photos by Dave Brumbaugh

The primarily industrial area at the confluence of East Bakerview and Hannegan roads at Bellingham’s northeast corner rumbles with activity. It seems that new construction is going on continually, businesses are thriving and a steady of stream of traffic flows through the area.

Heavy-equipment dealers and manufacturers of all sorts share the area with a gas station, temporary housing for the area’s first bank and a busy espresso stand. It’s a far cry from the area’s beginnings as a patch of forest at the edge of town.

Eighty-year-old Howard Hammer, owner of Irongate Industrial Park, is a sort of patriarch to the area. Fifty years ago, he bought his first piece of property — a 30-acre parcel with a house — off Hannegan Road, which was then just outside the Bellingham city limits. Eventually, he bought 280 acres of what was to become a vital part of the business community and home to the majority of the area’s industrial businesses.

“When I bought it, this place was just brush and trees,” he explains. “My wife and I had the foresight to realize the area would eventually be in demand, being on the edge of town.

“Back then, Hannegan Road dead-ended at Bakerview and a railroad used to run through,” he recalls. “It’s changed some since then, sure.”

 

Hot market

The area is expanding as fast as new buildings can be built.

“There’s a tremendous amount of stuff going on in the area,” says Steve Moore of Pacific Continental Realty, who handles Hammer’s and several other properties in the area. “I need eight days a week to keep up with it.”

Moore and developer Simon Johnson are overseeing the development of a new property, to be called Pomeroy Industrial, at the intersection of Hammer Drive and Jill’s Court. The 20,000-square foot development, which broke ground Jan. 8, will feature eight 2,500-square-foot suites; the expected move-in date for tenants is mid-April.

“The market is so hot right now that, had our new building been finished by Dec. 31 of last year, it would already be full,” Moore states emphatically.

He is also managing six lots, ranging in size from two-thirds of an acre to two acres, on Hammer’s holdings that have been pre-developed with utilities and are set to tie in to a stormwater retention system that Hammer had previously had built. Additionally, he mentions ongoing development on three Midway Industrial properties, owned by Mike Impero.

Business has been good over the last several years, agrees Peggy Hinton, owner of Strider Industrial Park at the intersection of East Bakerview and Hannegan. Hinton is another old-timer who bought her first parcel of land in 1964 and has seen and taken part in the area’s development over the years.

Strider’s nine buildings are fully occupied, but Hinton has another nine acres ready for construction and recently acquired another six undeveloped acres. She is confident and optimistic about the area’s continued success:

“I think this area will always be popular,” she enthuses, citing the area’s all-weather roads and accessibility to Interstate 5, the airport, Lynden and Canada (via Hannegan Road) as major selling points. Another factor in the area’s success, Hinton believes, is the cross-section of businesses located there, made possible by the mixed-industrial zoning.

“I just love the area,” she says enthusiastically. “It’s wonderful for the type of businesses here and I have the best tenants in the world. It’s a great community.”

The variety and activity help keep the area vital, says Lydia Bennett, president of Saratoga Commercial Management in Bellingham. She handles leasing for 9.8 acres at the northeast corner of Bakerview and Hannegan, land that is mostly undeveloped as of yet. It is, however, the future home of a permanent Whidbey Island Bank branch. The bank began operating there in a temporary structure last year and plans to build a branch within two years.

Bennett also mentions that more deals are pending on the property, which is owned by John Walton of Bellingham’s Walton Beverage Co., but she declined to go into detail as the sales are not yet final.

“Our property is a bit more expensive than some of the surrounding area like Irongate, because of its location alongside Hannegan,” she explains. “We’ve adopted a patient attitude . . . demand is remaining steady in the area.”

One major project that is underway is the $9.16 million Whatcom Transportation Authority facility being built by Impero Contracting of Bellingham on a 10-acre parcel off Bakerview Spur. Project Manager Lisa Mulka says the project is running on schedule and is slated to be completed by November.

The facility, which will consolidate the functions of six current sites, features a 55,000-square-foot main building and a separate 12,000-square-foot fuel and wash station. The south end of the main building is two stories high and will house administrative and dispatch offices and employee locker rooms; the north end consists of maintenance bays. Additionally, the back two-thirds of the site is paved (capped) for stormwater remediation.

 

Diverse businesses

A sampling of some of the businesses in the area shows its diversity.

Sound Truck & Auto Repair — Located at 4909 Irongate Road, Sound Truck handles a wide range of repair work. Owner Dick Karuza says its seven employees do “bumper-to-bumper” work on all sizes and types of foreign and domestic vehicles, from cars up to the largest semis.

Sound Truck features a diverse range of services, including modern automotive systems and work ranging from diagnostics to airbags to complete overhauls. Karuza mentions that it isn’t limited to auto repairs —the business also does work on forklifts and propane systems and even branches out into marine repair, a sideline possible because of his background as a former commercial fisherman.

A fair amount of work comes from large vehicles and Sound Truck has had fleet accounts for trucking companies. It operates a mobile service, mostly for heavy-duty repair, such as when a semi breaks down on the road. Also, the mobile units are equipped to do welding, hydraulics and metal fabrication, and are consequently able to work on lift systems and other components of large trucks.

Sound Truck has grown over its nine years and is in its third building along Irongate. Each move has brought an expansion of the business; however, Karuza says he’s as big as he wants to get for the time being.

Karuza likes the area and says the steadily increasing population there has helped his business somewhat. Sound Truck gets some business from their neighbors in the industrial area, but Karuza points out one of the pitfalls of the largely anonymous area: “I’ve had people drive by us every day on their way to work and never notice we’re here.”

Impero Contracting — Although it moved a few blocks last year to 1971 Midway Lane, Suite N, Impero Contracting is a longtime resident of the Bakerview industrial area — in fact, it was one of the first businesses to locate there 25 years ago.

“It used to be just a gravel pit and woods,” says Mike Impero Jr. “We’ve built some of the buildings out here, so I guess you could say we’ve helped the area grow.”

The firm, owned by Mike Impero Sr. and Dave Huber, has a workforce that fluctuates in size from 50 to 150 employees, but averages around 75.

Impero Contracting is one of the largest contracting firms in the area and does a wide variety of construction work. It’s completed a diverse list of projects, including the air traffic control tower at Bellingham International Airport, fish hatcheries, schools and several office buildings in Bellingham’s Barkley District. The company also is able to work in a number of different construction styles, such as concrete tilt-up work and metal buildings. Currently, Impero is working on the Silver Creek Industrial Park off Slater Road north of Bellingham, another office building in the Barkley District and the WTA project in the Bakerview area, as well as other projects.

Impero Jr. says the company’s location off Bakerview is a good fit for the company. “In our business, being visible isn’t that big of a deal. I’d rather be here than downtown.”

Myco Molding — A relative newcomer to the area, Myco Molding moved to 1650 Jill’s Court in November from its former location on Home Road. Owner Mike Yeakel moved to the area due to a much needed expansion of the business, moving from a 6,000-square-foot building to a new 23,600-square-foot facility.

The business does plastic injection molding for other companies. Most of its work is for local clients but Myco Molding also does work for clients in Seattle, Canada, and other locations. Myco Molding, founded in 1987, has six injection molding machines and runs three shifts a day with 10 employees.

Yeakel says business has been good, and hasn’t changed much despite the move to a larger facility. The move only cost the company a week of downtime, which was a factor in keeping business steady.

The Bakerview area seemed best suited to his company’s needs, Yeakel observes, citing the desire to own his building rather than renting as another factor in the move. He also likes that his business is on a dead-end street in a quiet area, which helps with productivity.

Prime Equipment — “We rent out everything from chainsaws to heavy industrial equipment,” says branch manager Wade Randall of Prime Equipment. “The size of our business sometimes deters the walk-in customer who’s looking for small equipment, but it shouldn’t. We carry pretty much anything you need.”

Prime Equipment, with 12 employees, does some walk-in business, but Randall describes the majority of its business as delivery. It supplies high-industrial equipment to many large businesses in the area, including Georgia-Pacific and some of the local refineries.

Prime, a nationwide equipment rental and sales firm, acquired the rental business at its location at 3896 Irongate Road in 1991. In turn, it is soon to be acquired by a corporation known as RSC, Rental Service Corp.

“We’re bigger than Hertz, I can tell you that much,” chuckles Randall.

Seakamp Engineering — Located in Irongate Industrial Park on Hammer Drive, Seakamp is a manufacturer of marine heat exchangers. Manufactured from brass and copper, exchangers are used in commercial and pleasure craft and are used for freshwater cooling.

“They’re the same thing as a radiator in a car, but for a boat,” says General Manager Clark Bergman.

Seakamp, founded in 1997 by owner Kathy Bruggenkamp, moved to the Bakerview area in January 2000. It sells nationwide and also to Canada and has nine employees. Business has been good since the move, says Bergman — a 20-percent increase in 2000 over 1999.

Bergman enjoys the firm’s location, pointing out that it’s conveniently located and an easy commute for employees.

Avalanche Ranch Light Co. — Founded in Everett in 1995, Avalanche Ranch Light relocated to Bellingham in 1997 and moved to its current location at 3924 Irongate Road in the summer of 1999. Avalanche Ranch Light Co. specializes in lighting for log homes and lodges.

“Our lights are what are called ‘rustic style,’” explains Sharon Kingston, who co-owns the business with Curt Roth. “They feature nature-inspired designs and are manufactured from heavy-gauge steel with hand-applied finishes.”

Its 15 employees produce a broad line of lighting — over 300 products — and sell to a national audience, with the majority of sales coming from the Midwest, Rocky Mountains and Northwest.

Business has been excellent and steadily increasing over the years. Kingston says Avalanche Ranch Light doubled the size of its facility when it moved to Irongate and is contemplating another move and expansion within the area.