Published November 2004

Mukilteo tech center
draws interest

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

A rejuvenated Puget Sound economy is spurring interest in Mukilteo’s 350,000-square-foot Harbour Pointe Tech Center from biotech, high-tech and aerospace firms, WiredZone Managing Director Vance Detwiler of Dallas said during a mid-October visit to the Northwest to meet with prospective tenants.

“We’re really excited about the activity in the real estate market here. We’ve seen a lot more interest in the last six to seven months from Boeing (7E7) suppliers as well as high-tech firms. Our short list right now has three clients interested in a total of 160,000 square feet,” he said.

Detwiler’s Prescott Realty Group owns the WiredZone national network of technology centers designed to meet the unique needs of high-tech firms with bandwidth-intensive operations. His firm bought the Harbour Pointe Tech Center in 2000 from Raytheon Corp. “when the market was extremely hot,” remodeled it and then waited out a three-year downturn in the local economy.

“But we’re in this real estate market for the long term. Now it’s coming back. We’re also seeing great (market) growth from both our tenants, CombiMatrix and Diligenz,” he said.

CombiMatrix Corp., a developer of tools for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, was the building’s first tenant in 2000 when it moved from Snoqualmie to take over 85,000 square feet in the tech center. The business produces a bio-chip array processor system that analyzes complex biological information, such as DNA, and develops a variety of high-tech bio-tools, including bio-warfare detection devices.

Diligenz, a national provider of Uniform Commercial Code, provides the first national Web-based due-diligence class search and document retrieval system. In late September, the company announced a 16,623-square-foot expansion of their existing 21,000-square-foot space.

“We’re seeing the high-tech space market tighten up in the Seattle market, so there’s a lot more interest by businesses in moving north to this area. In fact, we’d like to buy more properties here. We also rezoned 7.5 acres of our 30-acre site at the tech center, and we’re looking for a local joint-venture developer for some 80 home sites,” Detwiler said.

He said the building’s attractions for the high-tech industry include scenic views of Puget Sound; a quiet, secure environment; high-bandwidth work areas; an exercise room; and a variety of electrical, HVAC and power generation options that few buildings have available. Once operated by Raytheon and Honeywell for developing sonar and torpedo systems, the building also has extensive security and access controls.

Gregg Riva, Derek Heed and Stephen Rothrock of Colliers International’s Bellevue office are leasing representatives for WiredZone.

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