According to a report by the Puget Sound Business Journal, developer C.D. Stimson Co. announced plans on Tuesday for a 500,000-square-foot office campus at 5423 Shilshole Ave NW (see map below).
The campus is set to comprise of five five-story buildings.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that construction on the campus won’t commence until some of the space is pre-leased, and when it does, construction will begin with one singular building.
This piece of Ballard real estate has had quite a history. According to the report, this property was once the location of C.D. Stimson’s well known timber mill (pictured below in 1904) that he built after arriving in Seattle in 1887.
The mill was in operation until the mid-50s when the now stading Salmon Bay Center was built. The center, a a 200,000-square-foot office and industrial property, is currently home to Trident Seafoods Corp. and other companies.
According to the report, the first building is set to be constructed in the parking lot at the northwest corner of the property. This building will be five stories high and will have retail stores at the base. As construction expands, the buildings in the exiting Salmon Bay center will be demolished to make way for the new campus.
“I can’t think that the kinds of companies that are locating in Fremont will go to Northgate when they can’t find space in Fremont. They put value on being on the water,” Bayley, the great grandson of C.D. Stimson, told the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Dan Dahl, commercial real estate broker with Colliers International, will be responsible for marketing the Salmon Bay Center space for lease. Ballard “is by far the tightest market of all of our submarkets,” he says.
According to Colliers, currently there is not a single square foot of new office space available for rent in Ballard.
Bayley reprted that he has a master-use permit for the first building and the vested right to build four more. Currently, C.D. Stimson does not have an equity partner for the new development as they have not yet decided to seek one out.
Image of campus courtesy of Puget Sound Business Journal. Photo of mill courtesy of Ballard Historical Society.