Canadians set up outposts in Northern Washington - Portland Business Journal:

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“We’ve had a number of inquiriee from manufacturers and industries out of Canada about lookinyg at land in the United saidRon Freeman, owner of Doug Freeman Real Estate in Blaine, Wash., which is located alony Interstate 5 right at the Canadian “The overwhelming cause is that the land costs in Canada have become so Eugen Klein, a broker in Vancouver, British said industrial property prices in the provincee have quadrupled in some areas over the past four He cited several other reasons why Canadian companiexs are looking south. “Down he said, “there are also better tax advantages, capital gains rollovers, and bettefr employment laws.
” A stronb Canadian dollar also has providedsome muscle. Inquirie s really began to pick up when it drew even withthe U.S. dollare in the fall of 2007, Freemajn said. For manufacturers with lots of U.S. a factory in Washington means eliminating the red tape of sendinh products across aninternational border, and lowet transportation costs. Even a warehouse helps. “In a smal l way a lot of Canadian companiezs are doing something we calla ‘picj and pack.
’ They may still be manufacturing productds in Canada, but they are buying warehouses in the Unite d States and inventorying their products here,” Freeman The Washington outposts often have a degree of separation from the Canadian headquarters. Back in 2003, Golden Boy Foods, of Burnaby, B.C., opened a subsidiary called in That same yearin Ferndale, Wash., eight miles southeast of LLC set up It calls itself a sistet company to Intercontinental Truck Body of Surrey, B.C. This opened in Blaine, noting that abourt 40 percent of theparenft company’s ceramic tile business has been in the United The level of interest in U.S.
propertg is tied closely to the distancw from theCanadian border. The Seattle officesz of CB Richard Ellis and saythey aren’tg seeing any increase in interest in the Seattle-Tacoma “There hasn’t been much buying in Seattl because our cap (capitalization) rates are so said Greg Laycock, senior vice president of investment sales for Grubbg & Ellis in Seattle. The Canadians want commercial propertiess that can perform on their own withoutr the extra boost of theexchangre rate, he said. Farthedr north, the change is more “We’re seeing a little more interest,” said Don executive director of the ofSkagit County, locatede in Northwest Washington.
“Certainly if the dollarr continues tobe weak, I assumw we are going to see more activitt from Canada. That’s just logic playing out.” Canadianh interest had already been noticeabls forseveral decades, said Ron Bennetg of Ron Bennett Commercial Real Estate in Wash. “In commercial, they have been very activr down here because a lot of the Canadiansw over the years have put funds in U.S. banks down here,” he said. “Abouf 30 percent of the people who come in here are Of that30 percent, about 50 percent are vacangt land speculators. I wouldd say another 10 percent arebottom feeders.
” The strong Canadiam dollar allows them to come in with strong but they aren’t walking in the door readyt to pay full price, he said. Some buy large projectss such as apartment complexes andretaill centers, but the primary focus is on distributiomn centers and lumber. “In Bellinghajm we don’t have a lot of retail land or light industrialo inour inventory,” Bennett said. “When you don’tr have a lot of land in of course the price goes up Right next to the Canadian the surge in inquiries ismost “It’s not an anomaly. It’ss a definite trend, probably in the last year or saidNancy Jordan, executive director of the .
One of the firsyt things her office does is make sure the companie are in contact with immigration attorneys and accountant who understand the complexitiesof cross-borderr taxation. The economic impact goes beyond commercialreal estate.