Double Feature

Bellwether Building Makes Squalicum Harbor Even More Attractive to Upscale Businesses, Tourists

Article by Heidi Thomas
Photos by Dave Brumbaugh

When Peter Paulsen opened the Hotel Bellwether at Bellwether on the Bay in August, he started a trend that Port of Bellingham officials hope will make the Squalicum Harbor area a destination spot for locals as well as out-of-town visitors.

The port followed the 67-room, European-style luxury hotel with construction of a $6 million, 43,000-square-foot, mixed-use building, which opened in late April. The three-story, $4.5 million Bellwether Building will house 18 businesses, ranging from yacht sales and services and financial offices to an art gallery, a salon/spa, an upscale clothing store and a bakery-espresso bar. Fourteen spaces, ranging from 600 to 8,000 square feet, have been leased so far, according to Shirley McFearin, property development manager, and some tenants moved into the Bellwether Building in late April.

“We were looking for diversification for the port,” states Bill Hager, director of properties and planning. “Plus, we wanted to make an exciting place for people to come — to shop, stay, enjoy the parks and the waterfront.”

The port had already built a $4 million, 290-car underground parking garage to serve the area, Hager explains. When Paulsen built the hotel, it decided to proceed with a mixed-used building.

Phase one is a “town square” concept on 17 acres first occupied by the Marina Restaurant 13 years ago. Bellwether on the Bay now includes the Hotel Bellwether and its Harborside Bistro restaurant, the Bellwether Building.

 

Other changes

The next addition will be Paulsen’s newest project, the $5 million, 34,000-square-foot Paulsen Business Center. It is scheduled to open around Aug. 1 and commitments already have been made to lease most of its space to financial-services businesses and other tenants that want its fiber-optic cable connections for high-speed data transmissions. The Paulsen Business Center will include a 5,000-square-foot ballroom for meetings, receptions and other events, as well as a jewelery kiosk at the front entrance.

Also, the Anthony’s at Squalicum Harbor restaurant, with a capacity of more than 200 customers, is under construction and expected to open in late July.

On the north side of the harbor, the Port of Bellingham’s tenants in the Squalicum Mall completed in March their move to the new Marina Square.

The 18,000-square-foot Marina Square, located in the 700 block of Coho Way, is home to seven businesses serving boaters and fishermen: Radar Marine Electronics, Accu-Steer, Rasmussen’s Marine Electric, Squalicum Marine, Bellhaven, San Juan Electronics and the Web Locker restaurant. It also houses the Port of Bellingham’s Squalicum Harbor office.

Marina Square was designed by Ross McClure Cornwell Architects of Bellingham. Ebenal Construction of Bellingham was the general contractor. The new building replaces the 30-year-old Squalicum Mall, which was demolished in late March.

Marina Square’s features include excellent street visibility, overhead doors on the backside of the building for easy delivery of materials, gas heat and double-pane windows.

The new buildings are only a portion of what is happening at Squalicum Harbor, declares Hager. “We’re trying to increase efficiency in services and make the marina a destination.” he explains.

The port also is increasing the size of its parks and planning more marina-related activities. “Our goal is to close the gap between downtown and the waterfront,” he adds.

Hager notes the port is looking for ways to enhance moorage and build up charter fleets. “We want to become known as the harbor in the area,” he insists. Since there is limited space in the water, he says other options are being explored, such as building dry stack storage for small crafts.

Hager emphasizes that the port’s building developments aren’t using taxpayer money, but are self-sufficient from income generated by its own operations. “The tax money is used for public access and parks projects,” he continues.

 

Now open

Five businesses opened in the building during April, including anchor tenant First Union Securities, which occupies the entire third floor with its sweeping view of the harbor and Cascade Mountains.

First Union Securities opened in April in 8,100 square feet. The sixth-largest brokerage firm in the nation and a subsidiary of First Union Bank, it opened temporary offices with seven employees a year ago at 3614 Meridian St. Associate branch manager Nels Olds says plans are to expand to 20-25 employees.

“We wanted to provide our employees and clients with the highest quality environment,” he states. “The beauty and aesthetics of the facility and surrounding area were a key factor in our decision.”

Anacortes Yacht Charters, Muljat Group Realtors, Performance Yachts and Tool-house Design also made their moves by the end of the month. The rest will be opening through the summer, with a grand opening planned Sept. 1.

Anacortes Yacht Charters opened 2,500-square-foot offices and has a 30-boat fleet. Proximity to the marina is the reason owner Dan Meyer wanted to open a second location for his business. But he will be in a “holding pattern” until more space becomes available for moorage.

“The facilities can’t accommodate us yet,” he says. Meyer hopes to have more than 50 boats to charter within three to five years. “Thirty boats is just a break-even situation.”

Anacortes Yacht Charters was started in Anacortes in the late 1970s by Jim Shea and Meyer purchased it in 1989. It employs between 25 and 80, depending on the season.

Performance Yachts, a yacht-sales and boat-brokerage firm, didn’t move far. Owner Tom Britton moved his office from a houseboat at Squalicum Harbor’s Gate 12. Performance Yachts specializes in powerboats and sailboats and leases 12 moorage slips from the Port of Bellingham. Started in 1982, the business was purchased by Britton five years ago.

 

Moving up

Expectations of an upscale clientele also are evident by looking at other tenants moving into the Bellwether Building.

Bellwether Financial Services, owned by Jeff Knutsen, opened May 1 in 2,600 square feet and employs five. The full-service financial planning firm specializes in retirement, estate, tax and financial planning. It has been in business five years, located on Roeder Avenue in the Port of Bellingham’s Harbor Center.

“We were looking for an upscale office location, a place to expand our offerings and provide a good image to our clients,” Knutsen reasons. “It’s a gorgeous space.”

The Mark Bergsma Gallery will open in 1,400 square feet in June. Bergsma is a fine-arts photographer featuring panoramic, limited-edition coastal, mountain and marine prints. He and his wife, Bev, will also market other artists’ work in the new gallery, including metal sculpture, pastel paintings, jewelry and glass art.

The Bergsmas will move from 1306 Commercial St. in downtown Bellingham, where they have been located 11 years. In addition to Mark and Bev, they have two part-time employees.

“It was an opportunity we felt we couldn’t pass up,” Mark Bergsma comments. “There is a good mix of businesses and the ambience of the area to bring people in.”

Blue Willi’s, an upscale casual clothing store that features natural clothing from Denmark, is another tenant opening soon. Although Cherie Webster has carried the line in her current store, Margareta’s, at 1201 Cornwall Ave., her new venture will be the first Blue Willi’s store in the United States. At 1,000 square feet, it has a nautical theme and will carry men’s and women’s clothing, accessories and shoes and employ five or six, Webster says. She owns it with her daughter, Carrie, and husband, Andy.

“As soon as I saw the hotel going in, I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” she enthuses. “It’s an incredible building, like something out of Architectural Digest, something you’d see in New York.”

The Bellwether Bakery, Deli and Espresso Bar will be a joint venture between developer Paulsen and an operator. It will be an Italian deli, will employ 5-10 persons in 2,000 square feet and will serve guests from the nearby hotel as well as the 400 people working in the area.

A third boating business, A-1 Quality Yacht Sales Inc., has signed a lease for a 600-square-foot office, but will be subleasing the space for about a year until it is ready to move in, states Cindy Holland, who co-owns the business with her husband, Lynn. They have operated in Anacortes five years, have five employees and specialize in used vessels.

Holland says Bellingham will be a second location for them and they are looking forward to moving in at a later date. “It’s a wonderful place,” she gushes.

 

Diverse tenants

Not all of the Bellwether Buildings tenants will have a retail focus.

Graymont Inc. will open new 3,000-square-foot executive offices in June, according to Amy Thompson, executive assistant to the president, Stuart Wolfe. The third-largest producer of chemical lime in North America, its subsidiaries are located from New Brunswick to British Columbia, along with plants in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Nevada and Washington.

Graymont has been in business 52 years. Its Bellingham office, headquarters for U.S. operations, has been located in the Crown Plaza building on Magnolia Street four years and employs five people.

The company’s primary reason for moving into the Bellwether building is “better office location,” states Thompson.

The Muljat Group Realtors, a Bellingham business for 33 years, will open a branch office in May. The 600-square-foot office, the agency’s second location, will house four agents. “It’s a great location, on the waterfront and a good way to expand our office,” owner Frank Muljat says.

Polar Tankers Inc. will open Aug. 1 and house 1,600-square-foot administrative offices for the ARCO marine tanker operation. Jeff Shaw is manager.

René Huston is looking forward to moving into her 1,500-square-foot space in early July. The René Huston Aveda Concept Salon and Spa will exclusively feature Aveda organic hair and skin-care products and will provide facials, manicures and pedicures, body wraps and massage, as well as hair care such as cuts, chemical services and bridal packages.

Huston, who has been in the salon business 26 years, says the location is “a fantastic place to be, like a mini-city on the peninsula.” She believes the development should help Bellingham’s economy because “the more that’s available, the more people will come in from outside, plus the residents will have a new place to go.”

Toolhouse Design Co. was formed in May 1995 and is owned by three partners: Rand Lien, Elizabeth Lien and Chance Martenson. It opened in the Bellwether Building in April with 10 employees in 2,300 square feet, moving from the Sycamore Building in Fairhaven.

Toolhouse is a multidisciplinary design firm, creating Web sites, corporate identities, brand development and management, interactive media and packaging.

“We’ve always felt our approach is somewhat unique to Bellingham and now, it’s safe to say, our office is too,” comments Elizabeth Lien.

 

Economic Boost Expected

What kind of economic impact will the Bellwether development have on Bellingham’s general economy?

“Obviously, we hope it will be very good,” states Bill Hager, the Port of Bellingham’s director of properties and planning. “We hope the improvements will move downtown to close the gap between downtown and the waterfront.”

Local businesses in the Bellwether Building and Paulsen Business Center will employ local people and will bring in visitors as they deal with clientele from outside Bellingham, adds Peter Paulsen. He opened the Hotel Bellwether in August and says the building named after him should be ready around Aug. 1.

“The boat charter business naturally brings a lot of diversity to a community,” says Dan Meyer of Anacortes Yacht Charters. “People come to charter a yacht and tend to drop a fair amount of cash in the area. They spend the night in a motel, go out to eat, buy provisions and keep the service and repair businesses busy.”

“Fairhaven has its own character,” points out Frank Muljat of Muljat Group Realtors, which is opening a branch in the Bellwether Building. “Now Squalicum Peninsula has its own. There’s a good mix of tenants (in the building), the locals moor their boats here and there are a lot of hotel guests.”

Mike Brennan, Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce president, states, “Long term, it is a real swing of Bellingham’s waterfront to a tourism-oriented focus. It’s a significant and welcome change for the port.”

He says 25 years ago the focus was on industrial development.

“Today, it’s a connection with the city’s goals in diversifying its activity center,” Brennan observes. “Economic development is diversification of development, in case one aspect of it goes sideways.”

It’s a Diner’s Paradise

Squalicum Harbor has become a haven for fine-dining restaurants.

Already blessed with the Marina Restaurant, Lucci’s Bayshore Pizzeria and the Bayside Café, Squalicum Harbor gained the Harborside Bistro when the Hotel Bellwether opened in August. Also, Anthony’s at Squalicum Harbor, part of the Anthony’s Restaurants chain in the greater Puget Sound region, will join the Harborside Bistro at Bellwether on the Bay in late July.

The harbor lost one restaurant in April when the Breakwater Restaurant suddenly closed.

Anthony’s, which specializes in fresh Northwest seafood, will open in a 6,800 square-foot building in late July. It will employ more than 100 people to serve lunch and dinner seven days a week, according to Lane Hoss, marketing director. She says it will be casual and family focused, similar to Chinook’s at Salmon Bay, located in the Fisherman’s Terminal on Seattle’s waterfront.

“We are a Northwest waterfront restaurant. It’s an ideal location for us, with a great view,” Hoss states.

The Marina Restaurant already enjoys a solid reputation as a destination eating spot for steak and seafood. The Marina seats 200 and employs 80 persons. Owner for 13 years, John Arntsen points out that local readers’ polls have consistently placed the restaurant first or second for fine dining.

He expects “good synergy from all the marketing being done. The traffic will be good for the restaurant business. It’s been a hard place to find.”