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Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle-area office real estate market review for Q1 2013. As the report notes, the first quarter included a quiet encore of the performance seen near the end of 2012. Leasing activity was modest, but positive, tenants showed renewed interest in the middle of the Seattle central business district (CBD), Amazon leased any large space that came available in the CBD, and investors continued to be bullish on the Seattle office market. The performance of the office market is especially encouraging in light of the fact that general economic indicators continue... More

Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle-area office real estate market review for Q4 2012. As the report notes, the region’s office market continues its gradual overall recovery. Leasing was widespread, with all five submarkets reporting positive results for the first time in a year. The positive impacts of Amazon in the north end of the Seattle central business district (CBD) and various gaming and internet companies in the Bellevue CBD continued through the fourth quarter, joined by renewed leasing from more traditional sectors. The most recent beneficiary was the overall Class A category, which saw... More

Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle-area office real estate market review for Q3 2012. As the report notes, compared with the first half of the year the Seattle office market was very quiet in Q3, with the main difference between Q3 and Q2 that there were no new Amazon lease commencements. Not to say Amazon is the only driver in the local office market recovery, but it does point out just how big a role they have played, accounting for about half of the total net absorption in the past three years. Bellevue stands out among the... More

Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle-area office real estate market review for Q2 2012. As the report notes, the Puget Sound office market during the first half of 2012 was active on several fronts. Leasing was strong in both Seattle and Bellevue central business districts (CBD), rental rates showed some modest gains in the core markets, and the dollar amount of this year’s sales activity skyrocketed. New leasing activity was led by ecommerce companies and was focused on newer buildings in specific neighborhoods. It was in those neighborhoods that vacancy fell enough to tilt the market in... More

CONTRIBUTED BYTrent Dykestrent.dykes@dlapiper.com Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle commercial real estate market update, which highlights some of the notable office, industrial, multi-family and retail transactions in 2012 so far.... More

Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle office real estate market review for Q4 2011. As the report notes, 2011 showed highly stratified results. Class A space saw strong absorption, a high level of investment activity and even some firming of rental rates at the end of the year. The rest of the market was flat at best, although value-added investors showed more interest in the last half of the year, perhaps a harbinger of pending improvement in that end of the market. This split performance mirrors the overall economy. Large companies have recovered nicely while small businesses remain cautious... More

Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, attached is a Seattle office real estate market review for Q3 2011. As the report notes, the regional vacancy rate decreased in Q3 2011 and is expected to decrease again in Q4 2011 and, barring a deep double-dip, rental rates may have bottomed out across the region, with some firming in a few specific class/location combinations.... More

CONTRIBUTED BYTrent Dykestrent.dykes@dlapiper.com Compliments of Jason Smith of Kidder Mathews, here is an interesting report that analyzes the last two complete Seattle and Eastside commercial real estate cycles going back to 2000 and includes the “causes and effects” of the events that precipitated each down cycle, as well as the actions that ultimately assisted in the recovery of these markets. I spoke with Jason about how he is using this research to help his current client base. Like similar challenges that have multiple moving parts, there is not one silver bullet solution – rather a range of concepts and strategies he... More