Ownership

Wednesday July 23rd the Vancouver Business Journal held their 20th annual Top Projects recognition ceremony.  This years ceremony was well attended and you could feel the enthusiasm and optimism in the crowd for the improved business activity levels from the past several years. Held at the former Vancouver City Hall - located on Broadway and 13th street and renamed Block 56 attendees were able to see...

While attending the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours tonight at Cellars 55 - which is a very cool venue ( especially where they store the wine) I met Mike Difabio.  Mike is the owner of Fortside Brewing Company a start up local craft brewer and he is in the process of building out his space and soon will be brewing. I am excited for him. The economics of brewing can provide...

A three year odessy is about to be completed, with a  ground breaking ceremony , scheduled in the middle of July. In early  2011 Dr.  Sanjeev Sharma owner of Premier Dental in Camas, set his sites on purchasing  a small parcel of vacant land in front of the Wal-Mart on 192nd and Mill Plain Blvd.  During our initial  conversation he envisioned the increasing development momentum we see out there...

A firm based in Hawaii,  Watumull Properties Corp is the purchaser of the Orchards Center at 10401 NE Fourth Plain Blvd.  One very clear trend in commercial real estate within Clark County, and across the country during the past year  is that investors and management firms like Watumull are actively considering acquisitions.   Many property owners have come through the last six years having  reached...

On going roadwork along 15th street and upper Main immediately after you enter Vancouver from I-5  is causing regular traffic slowdowns, but doesn’t seem to be hurting business. I went and had some a morning beverage at Compass Coffee last week. Spoke with owner Bryan Wray as there have been earth moving machines and holes in the road  along his stretch of Main for a couple of weeks. Bryan says in...

Saturday morning the 26th of April I attended a ribbon cutting at the Clark County YMCA over on 51st Ct. The facility has been here since May of 2000.  For the past four years the Y has been in the midst of a capital campaign  to raise 8.2 million dollars to add several new amenities to the building.   A six lane lap pool, a walking track and new group exercise and community rooms were all vital...

I've seen a number of references recently to an article in Forbes where Warren Buffet make comments on a couple of commercial real estate properties he has owned for years.   I copied the story below - Read it with a couple of things in mind : While Buffett is not a CRE investor per se, think about 1. the companies he owns and the properties they own - within their cash flow models they have...

The Columbian  in their weekly real estate roundup announced the purchase a downtown Camas property by Journey Church from the Fisher family.  The property sits just east of the church on NE 4th.    The Journey community  has decided to take on a new project and expand their services in downtown Camas, where they have helped change the dynamics of the neigbohood since acquiring  their building in...

Here is a summary of a press release from the National Association of Inustrial and Office Parks that has  their outlook  for 2013. According to the NAIOP Industrial Space Demand Forecast they expect the U.S. industrial market is to experience   significant growth throughout 2013 and 2014, with annual net absorption forecast to reach 150 million and 175 million square feet in 2013 and 2014...

What does 2013 hold for Commercial Real Estate?  My expectation is it will look very similar to 2012.  Slow employment growth here in Southwest Washington will keep  activity at modestly active levels.   Scott Bailey has sung this refrain for the past four years, and nothing on the horizon suggests that will change. However 2012 held several good things for the local market.   With many Leases on...