Clark County Half-Yearly Economic Report: Jobs up, housing tight

January

• Port of Vancouver strikes deal to keep Northwest Packing as tenant.

• Westfield Vancouver mall says Gold’s Gym will take one floor of former Nordstrom store.

• DiscoverOrg moves from the east side to downtown, adding jobs.

February

• Sunlight Supply buys property for manufacturing site from Port of Vancouver.

• Banfield Pet Hospitals breaks ground on headquarters in east Vancouver.

• Killian Pacific begins construction on downtown commercial building.

March

• Christensen Shipyards slides into court-managed receivership.

• Wacom says it will relocate its Americas headquarters from Vancouver to Portland.

• Port of Camas-Washougal prepares to launch parks, building projects.

April

• Papa Murphy’s hits one-year mark as public company on strong note.

• Chronis family closes well-known downtown restaurant.

• Port of Vancouver begins planning process for Terminal 1 makeover.

May

• nLight secures $25 million for manufacturing, expansion.

• Nancy Baker says she won’t seek re-election to Port of Vancouver commission.

• Home sales continue to rise; new listings remain scarce.

June

• Gramor Development files first application for waterfront buildings.

• Court approves sale of Christensen Shipyards to part-owner Henry Luken.

• Marijuana legalization wraps up first year.

The first six months of 2015 have been a fabulous time to find a job in Clark County, with steady job growth that mostly beats the state and regional averages and exceeds the forecast of state economists in nearly every employment category.

“It’s been the same story for a year now, with solid across-the-board job growth in every industry,” says Scott Bailey, regional economist for the state Employment Security Department.

On the flip side, it’s been tough for the newly employed or anyone else to purchase a house at an entry-level price range. The current supply of homes for sale is enough to satisfy market demand for just 2.1 months, a dramatic tightening of the market from June 2014, when the housing supply would last 3.9 months. But while new housing starts for entry-level housing were scarce, apartment developers were eager to add to the rental housing inventory.

In unincorporated Clark County alone, 22 multifamily projects were approved between January and June. In that same period of 2014, the county had not a single application for a multifamily project.

A broad review of Clark County’s business picture for the first half of the year provides an abundance of good economic news, both large and small, and some rough news from Christensen Shipyards, a longtime employer that crumbled but may be on the road to recovery under new ownership.

Clark County’s preliminary unemployment rate in May was 6.6 percent, a welcome decline from the 8.4 percent rate in January. The county’s annualized job growth through June was 3.7 percent, representing 5,400 new jobs. That growth rate exceeded the national average, matched the state’s growth, and was a fraction higher than the job growth for the Portland metro area.

Bailey, regional economist, said the impressive growth rate is due in part to the county’s suburban location, with more land available than in a central city and with a smaller job base that makes for a larger increase on a percentage basis. While the growth rate is impressively strong, he said, it’s not a match for the county’s 1970s boom, when job growth hit 7 to 8 percent.

Those working in economic development say interest in Clark County by companies looking to relocate is unusually strong, even for a bounce-back period that typically follows an economic downturn. Mike Bomar, president of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, says that his organization typically works at any given time with eight to 10 prospective relocations, but it now has 30 active recruiting projects. “We’re at full bandwidth around here,” he said.

Port dominates news

Much of this year’s news has focused on the Port of Vancouver — not only the huge controversy over a proposed rail-to-ship oil transfer terminal, but also on a couple of business deals that will keep jobs or add new ones at the port, and a rollout of planning for redevelopment of Terminal 1.

The port faced a series of legal actions, including one aimed at overturning its contract with Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos., the companies proposing to build the oil terminal. A recall petition filed against Commissioner Brian Wolfe was unsuccessful.

And seven candidates filed to run in the Aug. 4 primary concerning the port commission’s District 2 position, now held by Commissioner Nancy Baker, who is not seeking re-election. Many of the candidates say they want to bring a new direction to the port.

But the port also sold land to Sunlight Supply for a new manufacturing plant, and it at last struck a deal with Northwest Packing to keep its fruit-canning operations at the port.

Meanwhile, the Port of Camas-Washougal also made news with its launch of construction of a $2.6 million waterfront park and trail at the site of a former lumber mill. Additionally, the port announced development moves at its Steigerwald Commerce Center. It awarded a contract to construct Building 17 at the Steigerwald site. A port official said the 24,300-square-foot facility will be leased by Foods in Season, a longtime port tenant and gourmet fresh food supplier. And the port sold Lot 4 of the Steigerwald property to Adherence LLC, a specialty manufacturer that will construct a 30,000-square-foot building there.

A gain, a loss

Banfield Pet Hospitals, preparing its relocation from Portland, began construction of a new headquarters. The company expects to move some 600 workers to Vancouver next year. On the flip side, Wacom, one of Vancouver’s highest-profile technology companies, announced that it would move to Portland’s Pearl District next year to increase its visibility in the broader region.

Downtown Vancouver got a boost with the research firm DiscoverOrg’s relocation of 140 employees to the 805 Broadway building while declaring that it would double its staff in six months. Also downtown, Killian Pacific in February launched construction of a three-story, 45,000-square-foot building on Main and Sixth streets that will house the company’s offices as well as other tenants.

The downtown waterfront took a step forward when Gramor Development filed for permits to build the first new buildings on the site. The Port of Vancouver also advanced its work on redevelopment of Terminal 1, which will include reconstruction of a dock which currently houses the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay.

At the Westfield Vancouver mall, Gold’s Gym said in January that it will take one floor of the former Nordstrom. The gym is expected to open in late December or early January, with some equipment available in a smaller space beginning in September.

The most tumultuous story was the troubles facing Christensen Shipyards, a luxury yacht maker with an international reputation and clientele. The sale of Christensen to Henry Luken was approved by a Clark County Superior Court judge as part of a court-ordered receivership process. That process ensued not long after signs of the company’s financial crisis intensified in January. Then creditors began circling the longtime shipbuilder that once sold a yacht to Tiger Woods and boasted of a turnaround after the Great Recession.

Housing prices rise

Certainly the housing and development industries aren’t complaining, although they acknowledge growth pains in the form of a shortage of skilled workers, rapidly rising prices for land and building materials, and a regulatory and fee system that adds to the complexity and cost of construction.

Clark County reported a 27 percent increase in single-family residential permits for the first half of this year, compared to the same period a year ago. Remodeling permits are up by 36 percent, the association said.

“After years of a sluggish economy, all indicators are pointing in the right direction, and the residential construction industry is making big strides toward returning to pre-recession production levels,” said Avaly Scarpelli, the Building Industry Association of Clark County’s executive director.

The rising demand was reflected in the real estate industry’s monthly reports. The average time a home spends on the market is just 55 days, compared to 83 days a year ago. But that number doesn’t tell the whole story. There are more than enough homes for sale in the $500,000-plus market and not nearly enough in the lower price range.

Mike Lamb, a broker at Windermere Stellar Vancouver, noted in his monthly housing report that June “was by almost any standard a really exceptional month.”

The 850 closed sales in June were the most reported in any month in 10 years and double that of the market low of 418 in June 2008, Lamb said. And, he said, June’s median sales price of $275,000 was 3.6 percent higher than the previous June high in 2007, moving the housing market closer to its pre-recession high-water mark.

But in an interview, Lamp expressed concern about whether the market will be able to supply enough housing for first-time homebuyers, with costs of construction, land and fees going up while wages remain stagnant. He noted that only 51 homes are currently listed with prices under $200,000. Even the market for homes priced up to $300,000 is “very, very competitive,” Lamb said.