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Industry Experts See No End in Sight for Growth in Region's Retail Market

SEATTLE, WA-According to retail specialist, Steve Ruggiero of First American Properties, and a mid-year report by CB Richard Ellis, the retail market in Puget Sound is moving hard and fast, with no signs of slowing down any time soon.

By Janet Parker | Updated on February 06, 2001

SEATTLE, WA-With land prices escalating and viable parcels dwindling, many national chains are getting creative, according to Steve Ruggiero, a specialist in retail development and president of Gig Harbor-based First American Properties. Some retailers are considering redevelopment of existing properties, like old hotels, and others are considering new formats. For example, Home Depot Expo Design, one of Ruggiero’s clients, is considering vertical formats and entry into mixed-use, high-rise projects in central business districts like Seattle. Circuit City also announced last fall that the company is revisiting every last one of its real estate locations, and then will decide to expand or relocate stores to gain a better competitive edge.

Ruggiero says stores like Walmart, Lowes and Costco are having an increasingly difficult time expanding. Because these big-box stores have set formats, they must find parcels of specific sizes and shapes in order to build, and there’s not a lot of those left, he notes.

Ruggiero, who represents 15 national chains, tells GlobeSt.com that his clients are all “aggressively trying to enter key markets they’re not already in,” and are expanding in markets where they have an established foothold. Ruggiero, therefore, says he’s had no trouble leasing properties he develops. “Absorption, tends to plug in from entitlement. Six to nine months from that point, our projects are generally 95% leased,” he explains.

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