Published March 2004

Business Briefs

Village Commons developer
aims for March ground breaking
Lindstrom Development Group hopes to break ground in late March on Village Commons, a mixed-use complex in Stanwood that includes dozens of upscale condominiums and retail space.

Financing and regulatory approvals for the $14 million project are in place, said Sol Baron, Lindstrom president. He also has chosen a general contractor, Seattle-based Compass Construction Management. Lindstrom just needs the final building permits from the city to proceed.

Getting to the construction phase has taken nearly two years.

Before getting approval for the project itself, Baron had to wait until the Stanwood City Council passed a change to the city’s comprehensive plan to allow mixed-use buildings in the Village Commons area. That happened in March 2003.

Overall, Village Commons will have 54 condos, 16,000 square feet of retail and office space, and a covered garage with 82 parking spaces for residents. Condo prices range from $162,500 for a one-bedroom unit to more than $250,000 for a 1,500-square-foot unit with two bedrooms and a den.

If construction runs on schedule, the units could be ready for residents by spring 2005. More information on the project is available at www.villagecommons.info.

Office of Naval Research adds
$854,000 to Microvision contract
Microvision Inc. said the Office of Naval Research has awarded the Bothell company an $854,000 addition to an existing development contract.

Microvision and contract partner Concurrent Technologies Corp. have been working together on new battlefield information technology displays under a contract that exceeds $3.2 million.

Under the new addition, Microvision will deliver a number of its head-worn Nomad augmented vision devices. It also will complete work on an advanced light-scanning device that’s lighter and less expensive than the existing technology.

Premera addresses issues
raised on for-profit conversion
Premera Blue Cross is offering new promises about how it will operate, including how it will set health insurance premiums, if the insurer is allowed to become a for-profit company.

The proposed additions are meant to address specific issues raised by the state Office of the Insurance Commission, said Scott Forslund, spokesman for the Mountlake Terrace-based insurer.

The new promises Premera put forth in February include:

• The company will continue to sell a preferred provider health plan to companies and individuals in all areas of Washington state for at least two years. Premera also will follow certain rules in how it sets premiums for Western and Eastern Washington.
• Premera will restrict how much its executives can receive in stock options. It also will agree to certain conditions in setting salaries for its executives.
• The insurer will set up two charitable foundations, one in Washington and one in Alaska, that will be fully independent from the company. These foundations will be endowed by 100 percent of the proceeds from Premera’s initial sale of stock.

Premera, the state’s largest health insurer and one of the county’s biggest private employers, has asserted since it applied for the conversion in 2002 that becoming a for-profit company with shareholders would help raise capital to improve services and technology.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is set to decide on the application by July 19.

Former Solectron property
gets new owner
Washington Real Estate Holdings LLC of Seattle recently bought the former Solectron Corp. plant for just under $6.4 million, well below the original asking price for the industrial property.

Solectron, a contract manufacturer for telecommunications and computer companies, initially wanted $19 million for the 179,000-square-foot building and 33 acres of surrounding land off Seaway Boulevard in southwest Everett.

The property has an assessed value of more than $11 million, according to Snohomish County records.

The new owner hopes to find new tenants for the building, rather than sell it again soon, said Brent Lower, Washington Real Estate Holdings’ senior vice president of acquisitions.

“But if there was a user who wanted to buy the property, we’d consider it,” he said.

The sale of the property closes out Solectron’s presence in Snohomish County, which began in 1993, when the Milpitas, Calif.-based company bought Hewlett-Packard’s printed circuit board assembly business near Lake Stevens.

Solectron then shared space at Agilent Technologies’ large business campus on Soper Hill Road until 1998, when Solectron’s custom-built plant at 6300 Merrill Creek Parkway opened.

Successive slumps in the telecommunications and technology industries led the company to close that plant, however.

Lower said the plant is Washington Real Estate Holdings’ first purchase in Snohomish County.

Methadone clinic opens in south Everett
Seattle-based Therapeutic Health Services recently opened a methadone clinic in south Everett after the nonprofit group gained facility approval from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

The DEA reviewed the group’s application to determine whether the proposed clinic had enough security to prevent theft of the medication.

The 7,500-square-foot clinic, at 9930 Evergreen Way, initially will serve 100 people from Snohomish County, then gradually reach the state-mandated maximum of 350 patients within a few months, said Norman Johnson, director of Therapeutic Health Services. The clinic planned to begin job-training sessions in February.

Pull A Part recognized
for environmental efforts
The Pull A Part outlet at 11330 Highway 99, Everett, has received a four-star rating from the Snohomish County Solid Waste Envirostars program, which recognizes businesses that incorporate environmentally sound practices.

AWB marks 100th anniversary
February marked a centennial celebration milestone for the Association of Washington Business.

Since 1904, AWB has been the state’s largest and most prominent business organization, representing employers and employees in the legislative arena in Olympia. Also filling the role as the state’s chamber of commerce, AWB is an umbrella organization for more than 120 trade and professional associations.

Leadership Snohomish County
seeks participants
Leadership Snohomish County is currently taking applications for the 2004 class.

The seven-month program is designed to challenge, educate and prepare participants to become effective and successful leaders. It begins with a two-day retreat in the spring followed by seven education days — one per month — focusing on such topics as education, government, health, stewardship and youth and family. Participants also are involved in team-based community projects.

For more information, contact the Leadership Snohomish County message line, 425-303-0200, or go online to www.leadershipsc.org.

Home sales up 8%,
but fewer homes listed
The number of single-family homes and condominiums sold in January increased more than 8 percent in comparison to January 2003, but both the number of homes offered for sale and the number of pending sales declined, according to statistics released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Some 4,054 homes were listed for sale in Snohomish County in January, 11.6 percent fewer than were offered the year before. Listing service members suggested that cold weather, coupled with a snowstorm and a windstorm, may have played a role in cooling down the home sale market.

The combined median price for houses and condos was $225,000 in Snohomish County in January. That’s a 7.15 percent increase over sales prices during January 2003.

Median means half the homes sold for less and half sold for more.

Homes sold in the county in January spent an average of 72 days on the market, nine days longer that the 63-day average of a year ago.

New businesses, locations
n Rampart Engineering recently opened in Marysville, offering a variety of technical services, including machine design, HVAC design, drafting, residential structural plans and home design. The company is owned by Shannon Ramey. For more information, call 425-327-4894 or send e-mail to rampart7@gte.net.

n Sparkplug Coaching has been launched by T. Sue Epps at 1805 204th St. NW in Stanwood. Epps consults with individuals and companies on ways to achieve business or personal goals. She previously was an executive coach and performance consultant with the Boeing Co.

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