The Seattle tourist industry is thriving. Its impact on commercial real estate is sounding even louder. Tourism is a “clean” industry and has a Multiplier Effect of 2.5. What that means is that for every tourist dollar generated in the economy that generates one unit of employment, it generates another 1.5 jobs. For comparison purposes, a basic manufacturing business has a multiplier of 1.5 and a governmental project a multiplier of .75.
Alaska Airlines has embarked on a $550M expansion of the North Satellite and will add a $41M rooftop lounge to the facility. Alaska controls 49.7% of the flights into the airport with domestic flights having increased 33% since 2012 and international flights having increased by 50% since 2012.
The hotel market around the Sea Tac Airport is booming, commercial rates are rising and most significantly parking has gone out of sight. On a recent day trip we spent 30 minutes looking for a parking stall in the airport garage and ended up in a commercial lot surrounding the Port property. It is the wise investor who acquires raw land surrounding the greater airport area and “banks” the land for future development by putting into service for parking.
