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Business Pulse
Ready and Waiting Industrial, Business Parks Offer Sites, Buildings with Quick Turnarounds by April Busch As grim economic tales are becoming commonplace, Whatcom County’s industrial and business parks are luring businesses into town. These parks absorb the upfront development costs for varying amounts of infrastructure and services. They then sell or lease space to individual companies such as espresso stands, satellite offices, light assembly and heavy manufacturing. Infrastructure and services provided differ between different sites. They could include buildings, sewer, drinkable water, electricity, all-weather road access, water pressure, wastewater runoff, cable, access to main transportation routes, telecommunications and more. “The reason I chose to build in a park, rather than my own site was, I make mountaineering equipment; I’m not a developer,” says Kathy Hughes, president of Seattle Manufacturing Corp., manufacturer of mountaineering and rescue equipment. Her company moved from Bellevue to Grandview Industrial Park near Ferndale and began operations there in December. “Most of the other areas up there required a lot of development, so I chose a park,” Hughes adds. “That way they can do what they do, then I can do what I do.” The company’s new 19,000-square-foot building sits on about four acres in the Grandview Industrial Park, which is an association of property owners. In the association, businesses buy the property outright with basic utilities set up. Seattle Manufacturing Corp. began moving the stockroom and assembly to its new site around Thanksgiving. Phase two of the move includes bringing up the remaining heavy machinery and organizing everything for manufacturing. Hughes expected the company to be in full production by the end of December. When deciding to leave Bellevue, Hughes was attracted to Whatcom County’s reasonably priced land, less traffic and better quality of life for her and her employees. Most of her employees commuted to the Bellevue high-rent district where SMC was located. “We’re in the high-rent district and we don’t need to be there,” Hughes says of the company’s previous location. Hughes hopes the move will allow more of her employees to be able to buy homes. Seattle Manufacturing Corp. generates $2 million to $3 million annually with a little more than 5 percent annual growth and 19 of the company’s 25 employees are moving north with it. “The nice thing about working with the people up there was they were familiar with what the facilities were at the site and with what we needed,” Hughes says. “We chose a contractor who was very familiar with the site and really knew the people to deal with in the county and what we would need to do.”
Park filling up Seattle Manufacturing Corp. is only the latest company to move to the Grandview Industrial Park, which covers 104 acres on the north side of Grandview Road. It’s less than a mile west of Interstate 5 — a prime attraction for many companies. The first building in the park was constructed in 1987 and now only 25 acres — in parcels ranging from 1.5 acres to 7 acres, all with utilities ready for connection — remain for sale by Coast Pacific Trading Inc. “We’re experiencing very good interest,” says Ken Hancock of Coast Pacific. The park’s next major occupant will be Tree Island Fastener Division, which will move by March 1 into a 44,000-square-foot building now under construction. Other companies that own property in the park include Montigo Del Ray, which manufactures gas-fireplace inserts in a 100,000-square-foot building, Ocean Kayak and Kona USA, a bicycle manufacturer. Grandview Industrial Park also includes the Copac Warehouse Industrial Center. Coast Pacific owns the warehouses and leases them to tenants. The center already has 110,000 square feet full of tenants that include locally owned Andgar Corp. Two 35,000-square-foot buildings are under construction. Deringer, a national freight forwarding company, will move from Blaine into one of the warehouses by March 1 to accommodate its growth locally. The other one will be ready for tenants by June 1. “There seems to be a demand for the type of building we are building,” Hancock remarks.
Developed sites sought By working with the Bellingham Whatcom Economic Development Council, Hughes notes finding a site that fit her needs was fairly easy. “Building in an industrial or business park is like buying a house in a residential development versus building your own house,” EDC President Fred Sexton says. “We have a pretty steady stream of businesses that make inquiries but have trouble finding sites that are ready to meet their needs.” Usually from mid-October to January, the number of businesses inquiring about sites goes down. This year has brought the most Sexton has seen at any time. To Sexton, the situation is a Catch-22. City and property owners don’t want to extend to a location without a ready client, yet businesses don’t want to wait for development before they move. Property location determines whether the city, county, state government, federal government or a property owner is responsible for the various developments. Very few private owners are required to provide basic infrastructure. In this area, it’s only large industrial sites whose owners chose to be removed from populated areas, such as Tosco Refining Co., Alcoa Intalco Works and BP Oil Co. “When it’s done right, there are many sites where the government developed and businesses were there,” Sexton said. “Look at the Bellweather (on the Bay). The Port (of Bellingham) did a great job in Sumas and up Meridian (Street in Bellingham). There are many cases where developed sites were easy to fill.” Sexton has marked the area to the west of the airport as the best new development site because of its proximity to existing infrastructure and services. But word around the EDC is that Whatcom County can expect businesses to move into any well-planned developed sites. Some developers and owners are answering the call. Grandview Industrial’s 104-acre, 26-site park is filled and may be looking for more space. Peggy J. Hinton, owner of Strider Industrial Park, said she has more businesses than sites and is planning to expand. “Of course, I can’t say what it’s going to be yet, but I have room for everything” Hinton says. Hinton has been on her site successfully since 1965. The park now covers 27 acres with nine building and 11 tenants. Hinton provides all utilities, water, sewer, cable, DSL, electrical and buildings. The park fronts on East Bakerview and Hannegan roads with an interior private road, Strider Loop. Her current tenants include an espresso shop, chipping service, petroleum companies, laundry services, tile makers and an industrial supplier. “We handle it all here: industrial, assembly, offices,” Hinton says. “I love it all.” Hinton has completed off-site improvements on her latest venture and plans to begin developing in 2002.
Demand stays steady For some park owners business may not be overflowing, but it hasn’t dwindled during these last few months of economic uncertainty. “We’re really running with the market demand here,” remarks Mark Douglas, project manager for Grandview Business Center, which has light industrial space. “We haven’t noticed any real damper or change since September.” The center, which deals mainly with shipping and receiving, isn’t ready to expand but appears to have escaped ripples of the stuttering economy. Business and industrial park success depends on sound management, good location, well-developed product and reputation, like any other business, but ready clientele doesn’t seem to be a concern. “Businesses generally come here looking for a place to go to as soon as possible,” Sexton says. “It’s like we’re inviting people to a party but there’s no place to go. But with good planning and development, we’ll be ready.” |
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