Seattle Real Estate Sees Surge in Chinese Interest After Vancouver Enacts 15% Tax

Forbes | Ellen Sheng | March 2

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellensheng/2017/03/02/seattle-real-estate-sees-surge-in-chinese-interest-after-vancouver-enacts-15-tax/

“Chinese buyers are flocking to Seattle after Vancouver, a former favorite of those looking to invest in property abroad, imposed a 15% tax on foreign investment. According to Juwai.com, an online real estate listing site that is popular in China, searches for properties in Seattle more than doubled after the new tax went into effect in August, drawing more inquiries than any other American city and beating out past favorites Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Searches for Seattle on the site jumped by 125% in November. Seattle area real estate agents say interest has been on the rise for the last two years, dovetailing with migrating tech workers from Silicon Valley.”

 

How Metro Seattle Ranks in Prosperity and Inclusion

Seattle Times | Jon Talton | March 2

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/how-metro-seattle-is-performing-in-prosperity-and-inclusion/

“The Brookings Institution has been tracking the recovery of American metro areas for several years. Today, a new report looks at data for five years coming out of the Great Recession to take a deeper dive that might explain widespread discontent despite one of the longest economic expansions. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area ranked 14th in overall prosperity among 100 metros from 2010 to 2015. Productivity advanced by 1 percent, average annual wage by 9.7 percent and standard of living by 5 percent.”

 

Seattle Mayor Sets The Stage for University District High-Rises

Puget Sound Business Journal | Marc Stiles | March 2

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/03/02/seattle-university-district-high-rise-rezoning.html

“Seattle’s major rezoning of the University District is complete after years of neighborhood squabbles, clearing the way for the eventual development of high-rises in the core of the neighborhood that is home to the city’s largest employer, the University of Washington. It’s the first neighborhood to be rezoned under the mayor’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA), which allows developers to build bigger buildings in exchange for developing or funding affordable housing. Mayor Ed Murray signed the legislation Thursday, with new rules set to take effect April 1. Under the new zoning, developers can build residential towers up to 320 feet tall and office buildings up to 160 feet tall in the core of the U District around the light rail station that’s scheduled to open in 2021.”

 

Washington is Best West Coast State in New National Ranking – and 5th Overall

Seattle Times | Lynn Thompson | March 1

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/washington-is-best-west-coast-state-in-new-national-ranking/

“Washington state is No. 5 in a new national ranking of how well states are serving their citizens. The state got high marks for health care and education, according to the The Best States Report, released Tuesday by U.S. News and World Report. The report noted the high overall educational attainment and low debt at student graduation in the state. Washington’s economy also scored well, with strong growth in its population of young people, the net migration of people into the state and job growth.”

 

Study: Seattle Tech Boom Helps Spur Historic Apartment Surge with 100K New Units Over 10 Years

GeekWire | Nat Levy | February 27

http://www.geekwire.com/2017/seattle-tech-boom-helps-spur-historic-apartment-surge-with-100k-new-units-over-10-years/

“Cranes have increasingly dotted the sky in Seattle over the last few years as new towers transform the skyline…According to a report from Colliers International, the period between 2010 to 2020 could see 100,000 new apartments built in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Across the region, 46,264 apartments were built between 2010 and 2016, with another 62,121 planned between 2017 and 2020. If all those units get built, that would add 108,385 apartments to the regional stock of 219,463 apartments, representing a 49 percent increase.”

 

UW Entrepreneurship Program Pushes for ‘Visceral’ Learning Experiences

GeekWire | Anran Lin | February 26

http://www.geekwire.com/2017/uw-entrepreneurship-program-pushes-visceral-learning-experiences/

“The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington is revolutionizing students’ classroom experience by offering a set of unique courses that place emphasis on more hands-on field learning. “We want a visceral experience for students,” said Connie Bourassa-Shaw, Director of the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, said in a video about the project. Bourassa-Shaw has spent nearly two decades helping the Foster School of Business at UW grow its entrepreneurial programs, from the newly introduced Masters of Science in Entrepreneurship, to the unique Creating a Company course that started in 1999. In January, Bourassa-Shaw announced she’ll step down as director of the Buerk Center this June.”