The CD Stimson Company, which owns the office, warehouse and lab complex, Salmon Bay Center at 5301 Shilshole Ave. N.W., recently gained approval from the city to sub-divide its two parcels of land into eight separate pieces of land, ranging from about 25,000 square feet and 131,000 square feet, for future development.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development released its decision Monday, April 6 and the public has until April 19 to comment.

The land is zoned industrial, which limits its uses and is located in an environmentally critical area. The land-use application was filed days before new legislation took effect that limits the size of office uses in industrial zoned areas to 25,000 square feet.

The application was submitted to the city Jan. 14 2008 and the legislation was passed and became ffective on Jan. 18 that year.

Portions of the property are also located within the "urban industrial shoreline environment."

Tom Bayley, president of Stimson, said the purpose of the subdivision is for the future development of five office buildings in the industrial area.

Bayley said manufacturing uses have not existed on that plat of land for at least the past 60 years. He said it just would not be economically feasible to use the land for manufacturing purposes.

There are no immediate plans to break up the space, but Bayley said he applied for the sub-division to have the option to lease out smaller office spaces at a later date.

Bayley said the legislation that limits office space in industrial zones was really geared toward development in south downtown, not Ballard.

"Ballard was doing just fine," he said. "I don't see many people needing 11 acres of manufacturing space in Ballard."

The Seattle Times is leaving the Salmon Bay Center for good on Tuesday April 14, where it had its northwest distribution center. That space, more than 30,000 square feet, is for lease.

There are no businesses in particular Bayley is looking for to fill space at the Salmon Bay Center now and in the future, though he did say he would have liked to offer PATH a new home. PATH, a health technologies company in Ballard since 2002, announced recently it will leave Ballard for a new headquarters in South Lake Union.

No public comments have been received about the project, so far, and the city has determined that no environmental review is required. The existing buildings will remain.

Among others, Trident Seafoods Corp., Elliott Bay Design Group, Swedish Business Health Link and Stimson Marina Inc. have offices at Salmon Bay Center.

The 482,995 square foot site (approximately 11.09 acres) is located adjacent to, and on the north side of Salmon Bay just east of the Ballard Locks. The two parent parcels are bounded by Shilshole Avenue Northwest on the northeast and the waters of Salmon Bay on the southwest. Shilshole Avenue in this area is paved but has no curb, gutters or sidewalks. There are railroad tracks running along the edge of the property in the right-of-way between the property line and the pavement of Shilshole Avenue.