Tacoma Washington Major Employers Looking Elsewhere?
One of the challenges facing Tacoma's housing market in the next few years is the availability of well paying jobs that keep and attract people to move into the city.
Recently Frank Russell Investments has been shopping for a new city for their corporate offices. Tacoma does not easily come to mind when you are thinking world class investment companies. Recruiting has been mentioned as one of the reasons for considering leaving Tacoma. Frank Russell employs over 1,000 people in Tacoma. They have completed over ONE TRILLION dollars in investment trades from the investment floor in Tacoma. The employees contribute over 80 million dollars annually to the community by simply living here.
DaVita is a nationwide healthcare company with a large office presence in Tacoma. Over 700 people are employed in Tacoma alone by DaVita. This company is looking to move out of Tacoma as well if they cannot find the necessary amount of Class A office space required to continue to grow.
What is the city of Tacoma going to do to continue to attract and retain large employers? If we lose either or both of these companies the Tacoma and Pierce County economy will be faced with a shortage.
With the housing market in the Tacoma Pierce County area already in a downturn the news of major employers looking outside of our area is something that needs to be taken seriously. Tacoma has so much going for it that it would be a shame if our area was allowed to slip back into the narrow sighted vision that kept so much development from happening in the 1980's and early 1990's
The city and county government needs to make adjustments to some of the building laws to allow for businesses like Russell and DaVita to have office towers built that meet their needs in our city. The benefits of having a well educated and well paid workforce far outnumber any concerns about building heights and parking restrictions. Tacoma needs to look to the future and create a plan that will bring us more employers and allow our region to continue to grow.
The housing market in Pierce County and Tacoma has room to continue to grow. The condos being developed in downtown Tacoma will sell much faster if the people buying them can actually work in Tacoma instead of Seattle or Bellevue. The county still has available land to build new housing developments that will provide wonderful locations to raise families. We need to continue to look for ways to work together and our region will flourish for years to come.
Contact Scott Cowan, Rainier Real Estate. Licensed real estate salesperson in Washington at 253-219-1194 to list your property for sale or purchase a home in Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Puyallup, and the rest of Pierce County Washington. Gladly accepting referrals.
Copyright © 2008 By Scott Cowan, All Rights Reserved. Photographs A picture says a thousand words but are they worth saying?
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