By Meghan Hall
The Puget Sound’s industrial market continues to be the darling of the commercial real estate sector, with accessible properties and developable plots of land continuing to trade. In a two-part transaction that closed on March 2nd, an entity affiliated with CBRE Global Investors acquired two assets in Tacoma for about $61.3 million. According to public documents, the seller is affiliated with Seattle-based Avenue 55.
In the first transaction, CBRE paid $32,665,159 for Portside North, a two-building development at 1514 Taylor Way. Built in 2018 and designed by Nelson Architects, the asset totals 207,000 square feet. Building A includes 155,100 square feet of space, while Building B encompasses 51,900 square feet. Each building features 30-foot clear heights and a 175-foot shared truck court.
In the second transaction, CBRE paid $28,324,841 for a warehouse part of Portside South. Situated on the former Education Manufacturing site at the Port of Tacoma, the multitenant building was completed in 2019. It totals 220,360 square feet, according to Nicola Wealth’s website. The building also can serve rail dependent tenants.
At the end of 2020, total leasing volume for industrial real estate topped all previous records at 22.8 million square feet, according to an end of year report released by CBRE. Vacancy climbed to 6.3 percent, but still remained low according to historic standards.
“The Puget Sound industrial market’s fundamen- tals are being noticed across the nation,” states CBRE’s report.. “The desirable lifestyle of the Pacific Northwest and technology employment that has thrived during the current downturn has driven growth by e- commerce and fulfillment tenants.”
During the fourth quarter, the Tacoma/Fife submarket saw its vacancy drop to 9.3 percent due to 234,511 square feet of net absorption. Article, a furniture seller, made one of the biggest moves of the quarter when it moved into Portside 55, taking 161,150 square feet at the development. As development moves forward in Tacoma, over 50 percent of the 3.8 million square feet of industrial product under construction is pre-leased. Such fundamentals continue to point towards a strengthening market, notes CBRE, as tenants and developers pursue opportunities in the market.
