Mayor Greg Nickels wants to keep commercial and retail development off industrial land.

Nickels has announced an initiative to strengthen zoning protection for industry and manufacturing in Seattle. The purpose, Nickels said during a press conference, is to protect existing industrial jobs and encourage new ones.

Over 120,000 jobs in Seattle are in industry and manufacturing, according to the Employment Security Department. That is one-quarter of all jobs in the city and more than in biotech, healthcare and IT combined.

The proposal drastically reduces the amount of commercial and retail development permitted on industrial property. On most of Seattle's industrial land 100,000 square feet of commercial and 75,000 square feet of retail space can be developed. Nickels' proposal caps both at 10,000 square feet.

"It's the most significant thing the city's done in decades" to help industry, said Dave Gering, director of the Manufacturing Industry Council.

"The most important issue in protecting industrial jobs is preserving industrial land," said Marianne Bischel, spokesperson for the mayor. "The city should be a partner, not the problem."

Nickels' proposal was "long in coming," in Seattle City Council member Peter Steinbrueck's view.

"The Council has been pressing for several years to get a stronger response to protect Seattle's industrial land," he said.

Prompted by the council, Seattle's Planning Commission began studying the state of the city's industrial land and its future needs in 2005. In July, it recommended restricting commercial and retail development on industrial land.

The city's industrial centers "are reserved for industrial land first and foremost," Steinbrueck said. "Office and retail can go elsewhere" in the city.

"We can do more, and I feel we need to do more" for industry in Seattle, Steinbrueck said. He wants the council to consider economic development and infrastructure investment in addition to zoning protection.

"We'll move expeditiously, but thoughtfully," Steinbrueck said. But, he added, "We are not going to be able to accommodate everybody."

This summer, city council has twice rejected the Port of Seattle's request for a zoning change on its 99-acre North Bay site to allow development of an office park. The broad, flat site is the largest undeveloped industrial land in the city.

In June, Mayor Nickels endorsed the Port's request for the zoning change, which would take away industrial land rather than protect it.

Cost of doing business

Opponents argue that the changes are misdirected or that market forces should be allowed to operate. They have not been as vocal as the supporters, but Ballard-based real estate agent Barry Hawley expects a vigorous fight over any legislation restricting commercial and retail development.

"Absolutely, because you're talking about the value of land," said Hawley. The proposed zoning restrictions would reduce the property value of industrial land.

The 100,000 square foot commercial space and 75,000 square foot retail allowances on industrial land are "a big incentive" for commercial developers, Hawley said.

"There's no room for commercial development in Ballard because of mixed-use development," said Hawley. The mixed-use developments typically only have "token commercial" space. "Any place you can put residential in density in Ballard is too expensive for commercial."

The effect is mixed-use development pushes commercial and retail onto industrial land.

"The city's let this happen, and this is a reaction against it," Hawley said.

"I think some politician saw this as an opportunity to garner public support," said Vince Deluca, senior vice president of the real estate firm Colliers International in Seattle. "For politicians to say they're going to put a halt to this is preposterous."

"Being able to pay the rent is a basic cost of doing business, and if you can't pay the rent in SoDo maybe you should consider moving to South Park or Auburn or Kent," Deluca said. However, he added, it doesn't apply to all situations.

"Maybe there needs to be fewer sweeping generalizations coming out of the mayor's office," said Deluca.

Devil is in the details

Supporters of the proposed restrictions are unsure about the rest of Nickels' initiative, which includes the city reviewing the zoning along the edges of the manufacturing and industrial centers and promoting research and development in industrially zoned areas.

The boards of the Manufacturing Industrial Council and North Seattle Industrial Association want more specific before they will vote on all of Nickels' initiative.

"It's in the details that people always have problems," noted Eugene Wasserman, president of the Industrial Association.