Tag Archives: industrial

SAFE Boats lease extension is a done deal

Port of Bremerton commissioners approved lease extensions Tuesday night for SAFE Boats International, the port’s largest industrial tenant.

Though the rough terms of the deal had been hammered out months ago, commissioners were clearly elated to have the agreement formalized. SAFE Boats employs nearly 200 workers in the port’s Olympic View Industrial Park.

“We’re very proud to have a relationship with SAFE Boats, and to have you in our industrial park,” Commissioner Axel Strakeljahn said. “At the end of the day it’s about the people who live in our community and the people who work at safe boats.”

SAFE Boats CEO Dennis Morris (pictured above) thanked the port for crafting lease extensions that meets the company’s changing needs.

safeboats “I think we’ve reached an agreement that will work for all of us,” Morris said.

The extensions lock in SAFE Boats as a tenant through mid 2017. After that, the manufacturer has the option of signing one-year extensions for up to four successive years on any or all of the four properties it leases.

The agreement requires a generous nine-month notice if SAFE Boats decides to not renew a lease.

The variable terms of the lease extensions could help SAFE Boats scale up or down to meet fluctuating demand for its small military and law enforcement boats.

“It does give us that flexibility in this dynamic business environment we find ourselves in,” Morris said.

As I reported last week, the agreement also gives SAFE Boats a steep discount on rent, to the tune of about $200,000 a year, or 41 percent.

SAFE Boats has leased space at the Port of Bremerton since 2000. The company is manufacturing a line of larger patrol boats at a Port of Tacoma facility.

With its main leases in Bremerton expiring at the end of June, SAFE Boats executives had looked for a way of consolidating operations. A search for suitable industrial space in Kitsap didn’t yield a ready solution

The company had the option of relocating its entire operation to the Port of Tacoma, but finally opted to stay in Bremerton.

With SAFE Boats sticking around, the Port of Bremerton’s industrial buildings are are largely full. The port still has a large number of vacant industrial pads it needs to find tenants for.

Commissioners may discuss a plan for creating spec buildings to attract more tenants at their next meeting.

SAFE Boats lease extension documents are embedded below: Continue reading →

Kitsap’s top commercial property sales of 2014

Tad Sooter

Residential real estate sales surged in Kitsap County last year. The same was true for commercial sales, according to assessor’s records.

Across the county, 302 commercial parcels changed hands in 2014, about 13.5 percent more than in 2013. A total of 198 were sold in single-parcel sales, 18.5 percent more than in 2013.

Those sales included some high profile properties. Below I’ve listed the 20 biggest commercial real estate transactions of 2014 by sales price.

A couple of notes before we get started:

— We’re talking about sales of property, not the business tenants associated with the property.

— Most the sellers and buyers were generic holding companies. You can plug the names into the state’s corporation search to get more details.

1. Arbor Terrace Apartments, Port Orchard

Sale date: Dec. 22

Sale price: $28.6 million

Sold by: Heritage Communities LLC. to Sea 1800 Sydney Avenue LLC

Notes: Two parcels totaling about 18 acres and 280 units.

2. Bay Pointe Retirement Center, Bremerton

Sale date: June 16

Sale price: $21.9 million

Sold by: AEWSH Bay Pointe Senior Housing to ARCH BPBRMWA01 LLC

Notes: A 3.3 acre retirement center in West Bremerton.

3. Bethel Junction, Port Orchard

Sale date: July 22

Sale price: $20.8 million

Sold by: Tavitac Bethel LLC. to Bethel Garp LLC.

Notes: A two-parcel, 157,500-square-foot shopping center that includes a Safeway (soon to be Haggen), Starbucks and other businesses. Sold to a San Diego investment group. Earlier blog post here. Continue reading →

Port of Bremerton interested in Bay Street property

Tad Sooter

port orchard

Update: The commission approved signing a right of first refusal agreement on the Nordic property Tuesday. Commissioner Larry Stokes abstained, saying he is personal friends with the owner.

The Port of Bremerton is securing the option to buy a chunk of Port Orchard waterfront.

Port commissioners will vote Tuesday on a right of first refusal agreement with Nordic Properties for about 2.5 acres of upland and tideland adjacent to Yachtfish Marine. Nordic Properties President Roger Jensen has already signed the agreement.

The contract would give the port the option to buy the land if it finds a prospective tenant in need of a shoreline site. The Bay Street property is zoned industrial.

“It’s just one of the few properties left where you have access to the waterfront there,” port CEO Jim Rothlin said.

The port has good reason to seek commercial space on the shoreline. Its business properties in the freshly-rebranded Puget Sound Industrial Center are landlocked, which limits their usefulness for some maritime companies.

Other shoreline properties owned by the port are largely devoted to marinas, piers and boat ramps.

The combined assessed value of the seven Nordic parcels (outlined in red in the inset image) is about $200,000 according to county documents.

The port commission meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bremerton National Airport. The agenda packet is posted below: Continue reading →

SKIA name change on port agenda

Tad Sooter

VicinityMap South Kitsap Industrial Area, better known as SKIA, will soon have a new name.

Port of Bremerton commissioners will vote next week to rebrand the area as Puget Sound Industrial Center – Bremerton. The Bremerton City Council passed a similar resolution this week.

While PSIC–B doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as nicely as SKIA, port and city officials believe the inclusion of Puget Sound will make the name more recognizable to potential business tenants.

Port CEO Jim Rothlin explained it this way in a background memo for the Aug. 26 meeting:

It is perceived that adding “Puget Sound” increases the ability of clients outside this area to more easily identify with this area, and “Bremerton” pinpoints the exact location of the City which it falls in. The words “Industrial Center” highlights the fact that we are one of only eight Manufacturing/Industrial Centers (MIC) designated by Puget Sound Regional Council.

SKIA, which includes Bremerton National Airport, Olympic View Industrial Park and a mix of port and private property, was designated as a regional Manufacturing/Industrial Center in 2003. Bremerton later annexed much of the land.

The Port of Bremerton commission meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bremerton National Airport. The full agenda is posted below: