Business park finds fresh ownership and management
Portland-based commercial real estate company Scanlan Kemper Bard has entered the growing Vancouver market with the August acquisition of the 90-acre EastRidge Business Park.
EastRidge is host to 120 businesses, occupying 1.1 million square feet. SKB Principle Todd Gooding said the move is part of a strategy to expand in to the market, and is happy to at last have a stake there. Gooding said his company tried one time before to enter the Vancouver market, when it made a hard run for the Columbia Business Center, but lost the bid to Killian Pacific.
"We’re bullish on the Portland metro area in general," Gooding said. "This type of asset fits our profile, and there’s lots of growth in the area."
One notable change as a result of the deal will be the management company. Three other firms, Forum Properties, Insignia/ESG and CB Richard Ellis, have managed the park at various times in its 30-year history, and most recently the management has been in-house.
Now the new owner has awarded the management contract to Colliers International, a real estate management firm with more than 660 million square feet of property in 51 countries. Colliers got the gig after the contract seemed a sure thing for real estate manager GVA Kidder Mathews.
The park will be the largest asset in Clark County for Colliers. The company will assume charge of the park upon closing of the sale, which was expected to take place at press time.
"I like to think the best man won," said Colliers Director of Real Estate Management Sue Iggulden, and added that she is unsure how the deal went from Kidder Mathews to Colliers in the space of a few days.
"We’re very excited to have the opportunity to work with the purchaser on the property. We feel like we already have roots in the community."
Iggulden noted that Colliers has a long-standing relationship with SKB. Maybe more importantly, she herself has a relationship with the previous owners of the park. Iggulden managed EastRidge for five years when it was in the hands of the Yearout family.
"I’m looking forward to jumping back into it," she said.
Gooding said the park will also undergo some cosmetic changes as well as placement of some tenants.
"We think we can change some of the retail space to add value," he said, referring to plans to possibly move some tenants to create more retail space out front and to change the look of some of the park’s exterior. He also hopes to add a restaurant in an effort to make the park more appealing to the general population.
EastRidge tenant Geoff Sainsbury of DaKines & RCs Café said he would welcome such changes. He’s had the idea to expand to the suite next door, occupied by Washington Mutual, and would also like a better exterior to attract patrons.
"We’re in a unique position," Sainsbury said. "For a restaurant to really be successful, it needs to look like a restaurant from the outside. A better signage and exterior that looks less like a business park would help out a lot."
Sainsbury and his partner are expected to renew their lease in January.
