sailboats seattle sale

NORDIC TUGS

NORTHERN MARINE

BULLFROG BOATS

MY YACHT WORTH?

• USED YACHTS

FEATURED LISTINGS

YACHTS BY BUILDER

YACHTS BY LOCATION

YACHTS BY TYPE

WHY LIST WITH US

• BUYING A TRAWLER YACHT
• TRAWLER BOAT BUYER'S GUIDE

FT LAUDERDALE

MARINA DEL REY

SAN FRANCISCO BAY

VICTORIA B.C.

• SERVICE - PNW

FLOTILLA EVENTS

SEATTLE SAILING ACADEMY

• JOIN OUR TEAM

LIVEABOARD BOATS FOR SALE

More and more people are exploring alternative lifestyle choices, as seen in the Van Life phenomena in camper vans under 20 feet long, as well as boats of all shapes, sizes, and types. Sailboat, trawler, houseboat, motoryacht, fishing boat, all have single people, couples, and families choosing to live aboard a boat as their primary residence.

At its most basic level, a boat suitable for living aboard provides shelter, security, privacy, and for some, identity. There must be a place to sleep, make meals, have a bathroom, a place to sit and relax, and storage for clothing, provisions, water, and personal items.

Search Liveaboard Boats by Price

Search liveaboard boats by length, search liveaboard boats by year, more about used liveaboard boats.

In terms of size, while it is true that sailors have crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 12-foot boats, that is not what is generally accepted as a reasonable vessel for such a passage. So too, a liveaboard boat can be on the smaller side, especially for young couple perfectly content with a minimalist existence, but that is not the case for adults looking to combine living on the water with some degree of comfort and convenience. For these people, a boat in the 36 to 40-foot range is the starting point. And for those who can afford it, a motoryacht over 50 feet will offer top shelf living that is every bit as comfortable as a luxury townhome.

Liveaboard people might be an early career computer programmer living in his Tahiti ketch, an IT manager living on a 34-foot houseboat, and a husband and wife, both surgeons, enjoying life on their 75-foot expedition yacht, all within a thousand yards of each other.

What are some of the features that one should expect in a liveaboard boat? Perhaps a better starting point is to answer several questions first. How many people will be living full time on the boat? If it is a couple, there are likely different accommodation requirements (or compromises) than a family with children. A retired couple may want different amenities than a young couple just starting out.

Where are you going to live? Is this boat going to stay put, such as a downtown urban setting like Seattle’s Lake Union, among the houseboat communities, or will the boat travel to different marinas along the coast with the seasons? We are differentiating living aboard from cruising, as they are not the same. People will be living aboard while cruising, of course, but the primary goal is to travel from one location to the next. Living aboard does not necessarily moving at all, and people who choose to live on a boat may be doctors or attorneys with commitments and responsibilities to remain in one place. They may just choose to live on a boat for the waterfront living experience and the opportunity to occasionally travel on a vacation getaway.

Is this going to be a primary residence? Many people buy a boat to have a summer residence in some waterfront community, such as Stuart, Florida, or Annapolis, Maryland, or Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, or Sausalito, California. They maintain a primary residence somewhere else, such as Fort Collins, Colorado, but enjoy the fact that they can escape to their liveaboard home in Seattle, or wherever, when they want a change of pace.

What is the budget? This figures into the equation in many ways. If one is looking primarily for a place to live, while in college for example, the boat may not need to be functional as a boat, as they don’t intend to go anywhere, just as a place to live. So, if the engine needs work, it doesn’t matter, in fact, it doesn’t even need an engine. Such boats can be found for extraordinarily little money. The same is true for the condition of a sailboat’s mast, rigging, and sails. For a liveaboard, the critical components of a safe sailing vessel are not required, at least for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, if there is sufficient budget to buy a fully outfitted motoryacht, sailboat, or trawler that is in pristine condition, the owners can enjoy life aboard in the true yachting fashion, with an outstanding experience at both living aboard and owning a proper yacht. Ultimately, living aboard a small sailboat or a large motoryacht can offer a satisfying liveaboard experience depending on the people and their situation. Go to any exotic tropical anchorage and you will find both, and everyone is having a great time. That is cruising. 

Consider other factors that constitute a suitable liveaboard home. Below a certain size vessel, the head is likely going to be a wet head, which means the shower, if there is one, is in the same space as the sink and marine head. Take a shower and everything in that space gets wet. A dry head, on the other hand, provides a separate shower space with its own curtain or door to keep the rest of the head dry. Given the choice, most people will prefer a dry head in the long run. It feels less like camping.

If there is room for a separate master stateroom that does not share space with the saloon and other accommodations, that is desirable. Privacy and space are important for personal mental health. Visual separation, if not entirely physical, is important for the overall success of living aboard.

It goes without saying that a proper galley is required for meal preparation and cooking. This is determined by the available space given the size of the boat. Bigger is always better to provide the cook with plenty of working counter space, storage for food in a pantry, pots and pans, and the tools of the galley. A minimalist approach will work for some, using a cooler for keeping things cool, while others won’t feel comfortable without the convenience of full-size appliances. The living spaces in a Catalina 27 sailboat compared to a Fleming 55, while abstractly similar, are vastly different in every way. Not leaving the dock, both provide a reasonable living situation, but the liveaboard experience will be different. But for the right person, each can be ideal.

Some of the practical considerations of living aboard include how convenient it is to pump out the black water holding tank? Only the most luxurious marinas, and the most expensive, offer pump out at the slip, something to consider when comparing boats and the sizes of their tanks. Same with fresh water. If one must move the boat every week to a pump out facility at a fuel dock, that is not going to be as care free as a mobile pump out boat that come to the boat with a call on the VHF. Most slips offer shorepower electricity and water at a monthly rate, but is the water shut off during the off season? What are the options then? Boston Harbor is a popular liveaboard location, but the liveaboard residents work around such obstacles, including living inside a shrink-wrapped boat during the winter months. They get by, but the payback comes when they enjoy an outstanding downtown living experience the rest of the year. 

If one’s plans include going cruising at some point when they retire or save enough to begin their adventure, then the choice of the boat will have to match the cruising plans. A trawler or cruising sailboat from the 1980s can be a very workable liveaboard while giving the people time and opportunity to refit, refresh, and bring the boat back to top shape. It is a common liveaboard theme. While it can be inconvenient at times to live aboard while refinishing an interior, many have done it successfully. Whether it is a vintage Chris Craft Constellation motoryacht or an aging Norseman 447, both are terrific choices as a liveaboard in an older boat with good bones.

In a perfect world, the ideal liveaboard boat will have space for storing clothes for each season, holiday decorations, a separate washer and dryer (combo units don’t dry very well), a central vacuum system to make house cleaning easy, perhaps even a dishwasher. Such luxuries will not fit in smaller boats, of course.

Living aboard a boat is a wonderful existence, whether it is on a houseboat, cruising boat, or even an older vessel whose glory days are long gone. The thrill of being on the water, and the potential for changing the scenery when the mood strikes, is a powerful alternative to living on land. If the inconveniences of living aboard can be overcome, such as pumping out the holding tank, having access to fresh water year round, getting secure mail and package deliveries, and a safe place to park the car, life can be grand. Yes, it is unpleasant to trade deck shoes with ice-cold leather work shoes that get stored in the car trunk because they are unsafe on icy docks, but that is minor in the scheme of things. 

And one quickly finds the liveaboard community is strong and the bonds of neighborhood are always there to help one another. On the East Coast during hurricane season, for example, it is common to hold dock parties during periods of storm surge, as everyone stays up during the critical times to adjust dock lines together while keeping the mood joyful and a part of the liveaboard adventure.

And it is an adventure. 

Enjoy these other liveaboard boat articles:

• What is the best liveaboard trawler?
• What is the best sized sailboat to live on?

Recent News

Join Seattle Yachts Annapolis for a fall boat show preview event where you can step on board the hottest Nimbus models without the crowds.

Join the Seattle Yachts Annapolis team at the 2024 Annapolis Sailboat Show featuring Tartan Yachts.

• Seattle Yacht Sales
• Marina Brokers
• Boats For Sale San Diego
• Bay Area Yacht Sales
• Seattle Yachts Service Anacortes
• Boat Sales St Augustine
• Annapolis Boat Dealers
• Boats For Sale Fort Lauderdale
• Boats For Sale Marina Del Rey
• Boats For Sale Seattle

New Boats & Yachts

• Schaefer Yachts
• Regency Yachts
• Moody 41DS For Sale
• Dehler 30 One Design
• Hampton Yachts
• Alaskan Yachts
• Nordic Tug 34 For Sale
• Legacy Yachts
• Northern Marine Yachts For Sale
• Nordic Tug 26 For Sale
• Moody Sailboats For Sale

Used Boats & Yachts

• Powered Catamaran For Sale
• Horizon Yachts
• Trawlers For Sale West Coast
• Selene Yachts
• Fleming Yachts For Sale
• Boats For Sale Anacortes
• Downeaster Boat
• Express Cruisers For Sale
• Used Yachts For Sale Los Angeles

OFFICE LOCATIONS

Pacific northwest.

Shilshole Marina

7001 Seaview Ave NW, Suite 150 Seattle, WA 98117

ANACORTES - SALES

Cap Sante Marina

1019 Q Avenue, Suite A&B

Anacortes, WA 98221

ANACORTES - SERVICE

Marine Parts / Service Center

2915 W Avenue

Sun Harbor Marina

5060 N Harbor Dr, Suite 155 San Diego, CA 92106

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

Marina Village Yacht Harbor

1070 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 109 Alameda, CA 94501

MARINA DEL REY, CA

Marina del Rey

13900 Marquesas Way, Suite 6002 Marina del Rey, CA 90292

FORT LAUDERDALE

Fort Lauderdale

1535 SE 17th St, Suite #103B Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Safe Harbour Old Port Cove

116 Lakeshore Dr. North Palm Beach, FL. 33408

Annapolis Harbor

7350 Edgewood Road Annapolis, MD 21403

International

Philippines.

Virtual Brokerage Office

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Scientists Have a New Theory About Why Orcas Are Attacking Boats

A pod of orcas damaged a boat and left its two-person crew stranded. It was the latest in a string of attacks that research suggests could be used for hunting practice.

By Lynsey Chutel

Reporting from London

The orcas have struck again — this time ramming a sailboat off Spain’s northwest coast, rescue workers said on Tuesday.

A pod of orcas damaged the rudder of a sailboat, leaving its two-person crew stranded in the waters off Cape Finisterre Sunday, according to an emailed statement from the rescue workers. It is the latest in a string of attacks by pods of orcas swimming around the Iberian Peninsula.

While the sailboat, the Amidala, did not sink, pods of orcas have sunk several vessels in recent years. Researchers still do not know whether the attacks are playful or malicious, but a new theory based on studying the troublesome pods of orcas suggests that they could be using the boats as practice targets for new hunting techniques. Other competing theories still exist.

Regardless of the orcas’ intentions, the behavior is enough to worry sailors journeying in the highly trafficked waters around North Africa, Spain and Portugal.

The Amidala, manned by a crew of two Belgians, encountered an unknown number of orcas on Sunday afternoon. They sent a mayday distress call to the Finisterre Maritime Rescue Center, which towed the vessel back to shore, the center said.

The sailboat’s damaged rudder, and poor weather conditions in the area, made the rescue more arduous, with waves reaching up to nearly 10 feet and winds hitting speeds of 40 miles per hour. A female crew member on the Amidala suffered injuries to her hand as the sailboat was being towed, and she was transferred to a rescue vessel, the rescue center said. After more than four hours, the Amidala made it back to shore.

In recent years, sailors have shared tips about how to stop orca rammings, or at the very least deter them. Deterrents include painting the hull a different color. Another tactic is to blast heavy metal music, or to scatter sand into the ocean. There’s also an app that tracks orca activity in the ocean, letting boats steer clear of pods.

Researchers have no definitive explanations about why orcas, seemingly in this region alone, are increasingly ramming ships. One theory suggests that the ramming stems from past traumatic encounters between orcas and boats. Some scientists think it may be simpler than that — as naturally curious and playful mammals, orcas may just be having some fun.

The other, new, theory comes from the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute in Spain, which has been tracking the orca ship rammings since 2020. It has found that orca pods off the coast of Spain, who migrate in the waters between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, have developed a taste of Atlantic bluefin tuna, according to a paper the institute will publish next month.

That species of tuna can grow up to 10 feet long and move at speeds that orcas can’t always catch, at least not without training, said Bruno Díaz López, the institute’s chief biologist. Sailboats are often the ideal size to train on — they move quickly and silently, and close to the water’s surface, not unlike the orcas’ prey.

Researchers studying the ramming incidents have found that it is mostly young orcas who go after sailboats, but sometimes adults appear to be teaching younger members of the pod how to do so. The orcas have also figured out that the rudder is soft enough to bite, and that fiberglass makes for good ramming, Mr. Díaz López said.

“This is like a training toy,” Mr. Díaz López said. “It’s a shame that we humans are in the middle of this game, but they are learning.”

Lynsey Chutel covers South Africa and the countries that make up southern Africa from Johannesburg. More about Lynsey Chutel

Around the World With The Times

Our reporters across the globe take you into the field..

Lessons From a Philosopher President:  Pepe Mujica, Uruguay’s spartan former president and plain-spoken philosopher, offers wisdom from a rich life as he battles cancer .

Taiwan’s Nightmare, Onscreen:  Some think “Zero Day,” a Taiwanese television drama that fictionalizes a Chinese invasion, helps the island confront an increasingly plausible scenario . Others say the show is alarmist.

Beekeepers at the DMZ:  The heavily fortified area separating North and South Korea is a place of deep meaning for nearby farmers whose honeybees can fly freely through it .

Scotland’s Wild Boar Problem:  Residents say the animals are roaming the roads and hills around Loch Ness , tearing up lawns and terrorizing sheep.

Mennonites in the Amazon: Seeking inexpensive land far from modern life, groups of Mennonites are carving out new colonies in Peru . There are fears they are adding to the deforestation of the jungle.

Recommended

Paris hilton defends not putting life jacket on 1-year-old son phoenix while out at sea: ‘it’s a big boat’.

Paris Hilton hit back at mom-shamers who criticized her for allowing her 1-year-old son, Phoenix, to walk around on a boat without wearing a life jacket.

The “This Is Paris” star, 43, posted a sweet TikTok video Wednesday of her and husband Carter Reum ‘s little boy waddling around aboard a luxury Sunreef catamaran during the family’s summer vacation.

“Watching Phoenix explore the world has been so special to me! I am so grateful to be a #SlivingMom,” Hilton captioned the clip, which she set to Ed Sheeran’s 2014 hit “Photograph.”

While several fans flooded the comments section with supportive messages for the mom of two, who also shares 9-month-old daughter London with Reum, concerned netizens offered up some unsolicited advice.

“Momma, please have him wear a life jacket always on a boat!! Stuff happens. That’s why they’re called accidents. With love,” a social media user commented on the post.

“we are all here for the life vest advice right? Beautiful boat, beautiful life, still safer with the jacket,” a second person wrote.

“Please from one mom to another.. life jacket!” a third commented, with another adding, “My anxiety not seeing him in a life jacket! Can never be too safe on the water!”

Hilton replied to the trolls by explaining that the luxury vessel was very big and her son was nowhere near any danger.

“Hey Mamma’s [sic], thank you for the advice & always caring about my #CutesieCrew,” she wrote in the comments section of her post. “It’s a big boat & my husband and I are following him around everywhere & watching like hawks. My babies are my world.”

Several fans backed up Hilton’s assertion that her son was safe due to the size of the fancy catamaran.

“Guys this boat is way bigger than it seems in this video. A life jacket would be silly, and worst case scenario, they taught him to swim,” a social media user wrote.

“You do you xx pheonix is having a ball xx and 100% safe,” another supporter cheered.

“You are an amazing mama!! Your #cutsiecrew is lucky to have you in their corner,” one person gushed.

Sunreef Yachts is known for its opulent ships and grand boats that feature stylish designs and modern finishes for the wealthy.

While it is unclear which model Hilton and her family used, the company’s website describes its catamarans as being “constructed for enjoying yearlong transoceanic adventures in the deep blue sea.”

The site boasts that each electric vessel is “ultra-silent, vibration-free and fumeless” as well as “easily maneuverable [and] energy efficient … with immense living spaces for dining and lounging.”

The “Cooking with Paris” host and Reum, who tied the knot in November 2021, welcomed Phoenix and London via surrogate on Jan. 16, 2023, and Nov. 11, 2023 , respectively.

This isn’t the first time Hilton has sparked safety concerns for her kids. She was slammed for the way she positioned her kids’s car seats this past May, prompting her to admit that “no one is perfect.”

That same month, the “Stars Are Blind” singer was called out for allowing her son to swim in the water while wearing his life jacket backward and subsequently thanked her followers for informing her of her mistake .

Advertisement

refresh the page.

Boats - By Owner for sale in Seattle, WA

• Necky Amaruk Tandem Kayak $600 Edmonds
• Tandem Sea Kayak $300 Tukwila
• 1988 TIDERUNNER 15’ Model 150 Boat $7,000 Gig Harbor
• SF Pelican, great day sailer/camper $3,150 Bainbridge Island
• 1996 Bayliner Capri 1950 $5,700 snohomish county
• 1969 16’ Bayliner Runabout with Galvanized Trailer $9,500 Seabeck
• Galvanized EZ load trailer/GlassPly 18’ boat/ 115 HP 2 stroke Mercury $3,500 Bremerton
• Dinghy $500 Seattle
• Kayak $300 Seattle
• 1974 28 ft. Uniflite fishing boat on 3 axle trailer $37,000 Belfair
• "VIRTUALLY NEW" 1986 38 ft. Bayliner 3870 $89,000 Bremerton
• 1991 30ft. Carver aft cabin. Very clean $20,000 Bremerton
• Ranger 20 Day Sailor $750 Port Orchard
• Boat Moorage Available 50' $550 Parkshore Marina
• Ericson flush deck $19,500 seattle/Port Orchard
• Bluewater Overnighter 19 Hard Top $5,500 SeaTac
• 2000 Seadoo Challenger Dual Engine $7,500 Auburn
• Atkins Teach sailboat $3,000 Bainbridge island
• Weldcraft Angler 18 $20,500 Seattle
• North River Seahawk HT $125,000 Seattle
• 1977 Cape Dory-25 $8,000 Edmonds
• 12' Aluminum SeaNymph w R3 MotorGuide Electric Motor $850 Auburn
• 1988 22’ Boston Whaler Outrage $35,000 Bainbridge Island
• 2023 Highfield CL310 + Console FCT-7 + 20HP Tohatsu + Trailer $15,900 Kingston
• Perception Eclipse Sea Kayak $700 Seattle
• 30' Coronado sailboat, electric motor $6,500 Port Orchard Marina
• Eddyline Fathom Sea Kayak $2,500 Gig Harbor
• Nesting Dinghy $3,500 Seattle
• CT 49 $139,000 Seattle
• Nesting Dinghy $3,000 Seattle
• 1996 Stabicraft 1400 all aluminum boat: $1 Seattle
• 1974 Coronado 28 $6,000 Port Orchard
• 50ft + Slip - Port Madison Moorage Available $1 bainbridge island
• 19’ Bayliner I/O $0 Burien
• 1982 Passport 40 $68,000 Tacoma
• 2005 TROPHY PRO 2302 WALKAROUND $25,000 Ballard
• ALMOST FREE 19'Bayliner, 130 Volvo, 270 outlive $600 Bothell
• Two 12' Kayaks w/ Paddles + Life Jacket (Elie Sound 120 XE) $775 Eastlake
• 16ft Aluminum Fishing machine $7,500 Gig Harbor
• Project $1,200 Mercer Island
• 16’ Lund JonBoat $4,200 Flauntleroy
• 24' Welded Aluminum Jet Boat $79,500 Maple Valley
• 2000 22’ Raider $38 Seattle
• 37 fiberglass bluewater sailboat for sale ASAP $1,999 Seattle
• Hobie Mirage Pro Angler 17T Tandem Kayak $3,500 Lake Union
• 1992 Glastron 16-foot with 115 Mercury $2,000 Normandy Park
• Catalina 30' 1984 $10,000 Ballard
• 20' Mid-Jet Aluminum Inboard Jet $26,500 Agassiz
• 13’ Pontoon Raft, Dave Scadden $950 Kent
• 2006 Chaparral 256 SSI $48,000 Duvall
• Pontoon Raft $650 Kent
• Cozy Live Aboard $35,000 U District
• boat house for sale $900 seattle
• 2023 Sea Doo Spark Trixx - Sea Doos $21,500 Snohomish
• 21 foot freedom Cutty cabin $5,500 Kent
• Kendall 32 sailboat- in San Carlos, Mexico and ready for cruising! $45,000 seattle
• Feelfree Lure 2 Tandem With Overdrive + Triton LTWIC Aluminum Trailer $1,500 Puyallup
• Egg Harbor $125,555 Everett
• Egg Harbor $125,555 Vancouver
• 1978 Egg Harbor $125,555 Everett
• 9’ Sorensen boat with Johnson motor & trailer $700 Renton Highlands
• 17’ SBC Inboard Ski Boat and Trailer $4,000 Gig Harbor
• 2012 NAUTIQUE SPORT 200 $34,000 Seattle
• 32 Bayliner Yacht $22,500 Seattle
• slip for rent on hood canal..46 ft outside $636 brinnon
• 46 ft outside slip in beautiful hood canal marina $633 brinnon
• Cascade 36 $1,300 Poulsbo
• Boat and Trailer $2,800 Bremerton
• 2 Kayaks, plus all the goods $550 Seattle, NorthGate
• 1959 Uniflite Cuddy Cabin 17’ Boat $3,800 Duvall
• BOAT STORAGE $100 Duvall
• 2022 YAMAHA 212S WITH TRAILER $65,000 Seattle
• 2024 Supra SL450 with Upgraded trailer, motor, prop,etc - 33 HOURS!!!! $169,000 seattle
• 1986 Trophy 2560 $4,500 Everett
• Canoe $349 south king co
• Fiberglass boat $425 Kent
• Achilles LS4-RU Boat/Inflatable Dingy $1,100 Seattle
• 1994 four winns $15,500 Everett
• 17’ Boston Whaler-Montauk (2022 Yamaha F70 Engine Under Warrarnty) $19,000 Everett
• 2021 AXOPAR 28 CABIN $190,000 Mercer Island
• 18 ft Gregor Seahawk IV $10,500 Bainbridge Island
• Kawasaki Ultra 300X Supercharged 2011 $7,000 Everett
• 91 SeaRay 350 LOA 37 foot $49,000 Everett
• 2007 Bayliner 185 $2,500 seattle
• 2015 Bayliner 215 Flight Series Wakeboard boat / deck boat $32,000 West Seattle
• 13-1/2’ Zodiac $7,500 Lake Union
• 58’ Hatteras Yachtfish $189,999 Lake Union
• 58’ Hatteras Yachtfish $189,999 Seattle
• 2000 1802 Bayliner Trophy&Escort Tr>No Motor>"Your Choice" for Repower $4,950 Mercer Island
• 12' Duroboat, galvanized trailer, 2 motors $2,300 snohomish county
• Free boat $0 Lynnwood
• Fully Loaded Hobie Mirage Outback Fishing Kayak $4,200 Bonney Lake
• Sorensen 10’ Fishing Boat Package $1,800 Lakeridge South Seattle
• 2009 Bayliner 210 Discovery $23,000 Lynnwood
• Tandem Kayak $200 snohomish county
• Perception Corsica Kayak $150 snohomish county
• Dagger Kayak $100 snohomish county
• Perception Kayak $75 snohomish county
• Perception Kayak $100 snohomish county
• Kayak $50 snohomish county
• 2007 Regal 2450 Cuddy $21,000 BELLEVUE
• Irwin 28’ Sloop - Sailboat 28" Irwin $5,000 Tacoma
• 2006 Crownline 216 LS $15,000 Mercer Island
• FREE!! 19 ft Chris-Craft Sea Skiff $0 Ballard
• 2004 Custom Pontoon Boat $40,000 Lynnwood
• 2014 Yamaha Waverunner FZS (x2) + Trailer $23,000 Redmond
• Crestliner Aluminum boat $7,000 Fife
• Melania’s Boats 💦 $1 Lake Washington
• Lund 14' boat $3,000 Renton
• Wakeboarding/tubing Boat $4,000 South lake union
• 12' SeaNymph boat with R3 MotorGuide electric motor $850 Auburn
• 1989 Sun Runner 195cv $2,500 Bellevue
• 1962 19ft sabercraft debutant $3,000 Hat island
• 2022 BRAND NEW AXIS A22, AXIS BOAT MALIBU BOAT $108,000 Brush Prairie WA
• Necky Looksha Tandem Sea Kayak $500 Tacoma
• 55' COVERED MOORAGE ON LAKE UNION AVAILABLE AT CASCADE MARINA $1,540 seattle
• 1981 C&C 32 w/ moorage (liveaboard optional) $18,400 seattle
• 1988 17' Seaswirl Tempo $5,500 snohomish
• EXCELLENT KENT RANGER 11 DINGHY $750 Seattle
• Tartan 30 - 70% discount this week $5,000 seattle
• 32' 1992 Carver Command Bridge- Mech Special $6,000 Seattle
• 2003 Glastron SX 195 $11,000 Burien
• Lake Boat Bass Tender $450 Gig Harbor
• Two Person Perception Rambler 13.5ft Tandem Kayak $500 Downtown Kirkland
• 1959 Chris Craft Constellation 27' $28,500 Seattle
• 12' aluminum boat..... $1,000 Edmonds
• 2005 bayliner xt 50yr edition $19,000 auburn
• 8.5 foot inflatable boat aluminum floor/ used once. Still available $600 Suquamish
• Native Slayer Kyak $800 OLALLA
• Kayak 12Ft $160 Covington
• 2020 Power on 2001 Boston Whaler Conquest 26 W/Trailer Package $69,950 Seabeck, WA
• 2010 Boston Whaler Outrage 21 Justice 20 w/ 250hp Optimax w/ Trailer $39,995 Bothell
• Old Town Rogue River 154 ss Flat Back Canoe $800 Port Orchard
• Porta Bote | Porta Boat | Genesis IV Series 12' Folding $600 Magnuson Park
• Beetle Cat Sailboat with Trailer $6,500 Poulsbo
• 1976 C&C27 MKIII with Honda 9.9 outboard for sale $1,500 Bainbridge Island
• Glastron gs160 $4,000 Tukwila
• 13'8" Aluminum Row / Outboard Boat $300 Snohomish / Clearview
• Beautiful 14ft Hadron Sailboat $2,800 Freeland
• 17ft fiberglass canoe $65 south king co
• 1987 Baja 220 Sport $5,500 Everett
• 2002 duroboat 14’ $5,500 Sumner
• Ranger Tug 2020 $158,000 Hansville
• 25' Moorage Sublet on Lake Washington at new Leschi Marina $391 Seattle/Leschi
• '93 Bayliner Trophy 2302 NEW Price! $24,900 port orchard
• 12' Aluminum boat with 34lb thrust MinnKota Electric Motor $825 Kent
• 2020 Super Air Nautique G23 Paragon plus trailer, superb condition! $210,000 Seattle
• Want to Buy Livingston/Sorensen 15/16 $1,234 Mercer Island
• 2011 Harley Street Bob Trade For Fishing Boat $0 Port Orchard
• Almar 19 aluminum boat $25,509 Lynnwood
• Gillnet Lease $400 snohomish county
• Salmon Gillnet $500 Seahurst
• Tolly craft 26' twin screws $10,000 snohomish
• bellboy1875 Ballerina $2,950 Redmond
• Arima Sea Ranger HT 19’ $31,500 seattle
• 2005 Crownline 180BR $14,800 Seattle
• 2016 Cobalt 220 s Boat and trailer $70,000 Sammamish
• Jeanneau NC 895 Sport - Like New - Yamaha F250s + Joystick $290,000 Bellevue
• Liveaboard Trawler $30,000 Seattle
• 10ft Inflatable RIB “Wild Thing” $450 Lynnwood & Langley
• 1993 Maxum 2300 SCR $9,900 Silverdale
• Parker 2120 Sport Cabin $87,500 eastside
• 2004 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer $39,500 Everett
• LIGHT 12' Aluminum Boat w/ MOTOR OARS FullSet EasyLoad Truck orRoof $800 Seattle Area - Kent
• Mint Condition 17’ Fiberglass NC Sea Kayak & Everything you need $2,150 Burien
• 12' Stable Kayak $300 Everett
• Equinox Kayak $325 Port Orchard
• 28 ft. Glas-Ply flybridge, $0 Seattle
• 2020 Greenline 40ft Hybrid with no sales tax! $595,000 Snohomish
• 2018 Tige R22 wake boat $59,500 Snohomish
• 1996 Bayliner Capri Cuddy 1952 $5,000 Gig Harbor
• COBALT 18' $7,995 West Seattle
• Chaparral 235 SSI $29,000 Everett
• 1977 BLUEWATER YACHT TRAWLER $12,900 Lake Union
• Parking / space for rent - outdoor $80 Ballard
• Sailboat $600 Seattle
• 8 hp Merc long shaft $1,200 snohomish county
• WANTED: sailboat any size or condition trailer or moored $3,333 Seattle
• 2005 Bayliner Trophy 1802 $11,500 Federal Way
• Larson 206 Lxi w/trailer - LOOK!! $10,500 Fox Island
• 1988 Bayliner Trophy $18,500 Seattle
• Nautica Rib 12 Deluxe Jet Boat $5,200 Seattle
• 11'6" Walden Adirondack kayak with paddle $740 retail $360 Burien
• 1973 Coronado 27 $6,000 Everett
• Tollycraft Express Cruiser $34,500 Seattle
• 2000 14' StarCraft aluminum $3,800 Lynnwood
• Crestliner 1850 fishing boat $6,950 Lynnwood
• 1999 Ranger Tugs - R31 S $295,000 Seattle
• Cape George 36 $98,000 Seattle
• 24 ft Almar Sounder Cuddy $59,000 Seattle
• Q-Kayaks International 17ft Kayak $500 Seattle, NorthGate
• P&H Easky 17ft Kayak $600 Seattle, NorthGate
• 37’ canoe cove sedan-part trade $42,000 Poulsbo
• Fiberform $600 Kingston
• 2008 Meridian 391 Sedan Bridge * Ready to Cruise * $349,900 Seattle
• Oru foldable kayaks $600 Central district
• 3288 Bayliner $45,000 Kingston
• 2 Sailboats For Sale $250 PORT ORCHARD
• Necky Tandem Kayak Gannet II $250 kitsap / west puget
• 1986 25’ Searay Sundancer $3,500 Silverdale
• Starboard 11’2” Inflatable Paddleboard $500 Magnolia
• Puget Sound gillnet permit for lease $1 Edmonds
• 21’ Aluminum Boat, Motor, and Trailer $3,500 Renton
• 18’ Sterling Sea Kayak with outrigger and sail $2,600 Lake Forest Park
• Aire Sea Tiger $900 Edmonds
• 2019 Cobalt R5 w/Prime Moorage Transfer on Lake WA. $99,999 Bellevue
• Osprey STD Pygmy Kayak Custom $1,800 Bothell
• Maxxon 8' Inflatable $500 Bainbridge Island
• 1966 Tartan Blackwatch Sailboat $29,999 Port Ludlow
• Malibu LSV25 Wakesetter $120,000 Auburn
• Zodiac Open 7 $72,500 Seattle
• '96 Bayliner Ciera Express 2452 $8,900 POULSBO
• ThunderJet/Spartan 28 Pilot $189,500 seattle
• Row/Motor boat 11'6" $700 Lake Stevens
• 35’ Moorage at Duwamish Yacht Club $500 South Park
• Sabre 34 mk l $35,900 Port orchard
• Perfect fit for the NW weather $24,999 NE Tacoma
• 2021 23' North River Seahawk with offshore bracket & 300hp $99,000 Lake Stevens/ Snohomish
• Boston Whaler 11’ $2,200 Seattle
• 14 foot blue fin aluminum boat $3,300 Brinnon
• 2018 seadoo spark trixx $8,750 Auburn
• 17 Ft Yar Craft $3,800 seattle
• Hews 15 Aluminum Fishing Boat $1 Woodinville
• NEW 10.5'GoPro Paddleboard /Open Kayak Standup Paddle Board NEW only $300 Seattle
• Like New Inflatable Fishing Boat Set Raft Mariner4, was 600 now only $280 Seattle
• Sea Kayaks and Accessories $1,500 Tacoma
• Fairliner 27-foot cabin cruiser $6,900 Des Moines
• 2020 Raider 210 Explorer $72,000 snohomish county
• Evinrude 25 hp motor $1,250 Burien
• 1999 Bayliner Ciera 2355 $21,000 Bothell
• Shorelandr PWC Tandem Jetski Trailer $1,900 Seattle, Wa
• 2001 Regal 1800 LSR $10,500 Everett
• 81 ski supreme low hours Trade? $4,500 kitsap / west puget
• Chris-Craft1961 completely redone $23,900 Seattle
• 2016 Searay Sundeck 240 $56,000 Gig Harbor
• 41 ft. sailboat $33,500 puyallup
• Yacht Dinghy $650 Port Orchard
• Chris-Craft Launch 27 $159,900 Kirkland
• 2007 Seaswirl Striper 3301 $110,000 Tacoma Washington
• Fishing Raft For Sale $8,750 Seattle
• Fishing ski boat $19,000 Port Orchard
• 10’ Walker Bay $400 Ballard
• 9' Livingston Boat & Trolling Motor $300 Duvall
• 18 foot, center counsel fishing boat, 90 HP outboard, 4 person $13,800 Edgewood
• Boat $2,500 kitsap / west puget
• TollyCraft $13,500 Poulsbo
• 2008 Alumaweld Formula Vee 24’ $68,900 Seattle
• 1998 18 Boston whaler $34,950 Lynnwood
• Driftboat, Willie Drift Boat $4,200 North Kirkland
• Wellcraft excel 26SE $11,000 Seattle
• Avon Skiff Inflatable (RIB) w TOHATSU 9.8. $1,795 Ballard
• Inflatable KAYAK $290 Ballard
• Yakima Mako Saddles $34 Redmond
• HAGAR Holland 33.5ft $9,950 Seattle
• 44' covered moorage -Kenmore $1,050 Kenmore
• Smoker Craft $7,500 Port Orchard
• 2023 Specmar offshore boat custom built $140,000 seattle
• Electric Ericson 27 w/ Transferable Slip in Eastlake Lake Union $4,500 Eastlake
• 2003 Bayliner Ciera 245 $25,000 Ballard
• Fiberglass tandem kayak $425 Lake Forest Park
• Great boat for sale - health reasons $4,000 Seattle
• Live Aboard slip w/1984 32’ Carver Aft Cabin $25,000 Seattle - South U District
• 9.5’ fiberglass dinghy $550 Seattle
• DeltaTraverse 17.5 Tandem $1,895 Redmond
• 2004 LARSON CABRIO 260 $26,000 Tacoma
• 12’ Smokercraft Aluminum Boat W/Motor $640 Indianola
• 2006 Lowe Fish and Ski 165 $18,000 Auburn
• Sea Ray Motor Yacht, 2 staterooms 2 heads, very low hours $99,000 Seattle
• Kayak Eddyline Journey $1,595 Redmond
• Smoker craft pro sportman $38,000 tacoma / pierce
• 12' Apex Center Console RIB Tender with 25HP Mercury $1,999 West Seattle
• Newport Vessel Inflatable $1,300 Enumclaw
• 1990 Grand Banks 36 Europa $236,000 Seattle
• 12' fiberglass boat $2,500 Kent
• 1993 Bluewater Hard Top $5,500 SeaTac
• San Juan 24 for sail and sale $1,800 Hansville
• Melania’s Boats $1 Lake Union
• 2021 Seadoo RXT-X $14,500 Mukilteo
• Must Go! 1978 Stonehorse Classic Cruiser Open to Offers $13,000 Seattle
• 1998 Bayliner 2452 $18,500 Sammamish
• 33' Fairliner $5,000 Foss Waterway
• Necky Seakayak $950 Seattle
• Coronado 25 $3,500 Burton
• Vintage Orange Creamsicle Floatie Inflatable Raft Floaty Complete Set! $200 Seattle Greenlake
• BRAND NEW Stand Up Paddle Board REDHOT PINK Paddleboard Inflatable SUP $200 Seattle
• 2002 Moomba Outback LS - Low Hours $22,500 Gig Harbor
• BrandNew LIGHTWEIGHT 8' Zodiac Inflatable Boat Full Set was $1600 now: $600 Seattle
• 2011 Kawasaki ultra 300 LX & X $13,995 Tacoma
• 10' Durable Lightweight Inflatable Boat / Whitewater River Raft Dinghy $600 Seattle
• Laser dingy, plus trailer and dolly, sails beautifully $1,400 Mercer Island
• 1987 Arima SeaHunter $8,000 Lynnwood
• 32 Carver Motor Yacht $19,900 seattle
• 10' Inflatable Boat 5 Person Raft Set LIKE NEW! Was $433+ now only: $120 Kent
• ZODIAC OPEN 7 NEO (RIB) $58,000 Seattle
• Trawler $21,000 Kingston
• 1997 Carver 250 Express $19,500 NE Kirkland
• 1974 Catalina 27' $4,000 Tacoma
• 9.5" boat with Newport motor $875 Federal Way
• 1978 Bayliner 305-V8/280 volvo out drive $2,900 Fall City
• Boston whaler 190 Nantucket $49,995 Lynnwood
• Yamaha Waverunner 1988 WR500 $500 North Bend
• 1963 15’ uniflite runabout $4,000 Seattle
• Winter Boat Storage, Indoor, Covered or Outdoor $12,345 Eastside
• 14' Valco Aluminum Boat $3,250 Duvall
• 1983 Westcoaster Bayrunner And Galvanized Trailer $2,500 Woodinville
• SeaRay 270 Sundancer 2001 $14,900 Seattle
• Wilderness Systems Sealution XL Sea Kayak $600 West Seattle
• Tollycraft 26’ Sedan $18,500 Mukilteo
• Welding & Fabrication $0 Belfair
• Sea Ray 190 $4,900 Seattle
• 11 '6" touring/camping Sea Kayak $750 Federal Way
• 2007 Bayliner 245 | 24 ft $29,000 Seattle
• 2020 Yamaha AR195 $44,000 Gig Harbor
• 10' BESTWAY VOYAGER 1000 BOAT - $450 (Everett) $450 Everett
• '99 Maristar VRS 210 w/Moorage+Lift $26,000 Kenmore
• Sea kayak - Perception Sea Lion, carbon fiber $600 Shoreline
• 10' BESTWAY VOYAGER 1000 BOAT $450 Everett
• Old Town Loon 106 Kayak $875 seattle
• 2002 Bayliner Capri 2152BK Cuddy Cabin $6,500 Lake stevens
• 1964 Chris Craft Classic $10,500 Bremerton
• Tug "TEAL" 42' Wood 1949 $22,500 Poulsbo
• FX CRUISER SVHO RIVA $13,500 Federal way
• Sea Kayaks $2,500 Greenwood
• Whaler Style Dinghy/Tender $3,900 eastside
• Achilles Hard Bottom Inflatable $250 Port Orchard
• Glacier Bay Catamaran $19,500 University Place
• Row boat with trailer $1,200 kitsap / west puget
• 12' RIB Boat w/ 40hp Evinrude $3,950 Poulsbo
• 2017 Regal 1900ES w Trailer $39,000 Burien
• 13’ Whaler & 2500 Silverado $13,500 Bainbridge Island
• Amazon oars. $50 Monroe washington
• 1969 Columbia 36ft Sailboat $25,500 Port of Brownsville
• 20’ fishing boat walk around $14,000 Enumclaw
• 86 Olympic 16ft $4,800 Snohomish
• Boat Rental - Charter on Lake Washington $230 Bellevue
• 2017 Malibu MXZ24, with trailer, 120hours $110,000 Black Diamond
• 2019 Seadoo Spark Trixx 3up $8,000 Des Moines
• 14' fishing/row boat & trailer $250 snohomish county
• looking to buy a fishing boat 15-18' $10,500 Seattle or north, have Cash
• 13ft 3 person Alumaweld Drift boat $3,200 Gig Harbor
• Sea Kayak $800 Kirkland
• 1993 Cobalt 222 Conjoure $16,000 Seattle
• 24ft Skagit Orca $99,000 seattle
• 13'8" Aluminum Boat $300 Snohomish / Clearview
• 1988 Bayliner 3218 $44,000 Poulsbo
• Bayliner 3218 Motoryacht $44,000 Poulsbo
• 19' Livingston Viking $6,000 Poulsbo
• 1993 43' Navigator Sedan $160,000 Tacoma
• 17’ Easy Rider Seahawk kayak package $850 Capitol Hill
• 29er Sails -Brand New! $2,000 Kirkland

Kingston-Seattle fast ferry sailings cancelled due to boat shortage

Fast ferry sailings between Kingston and Seattle have been canceled until further notice. Kitsap Transit forecasted such a disruption just one month ago.

The Rich Passage 1 has been pulled from the Kingston-Seattle route to fill in for a broken vessel on the Bremerton-Seattle route. The Reliance, which normally services Bremerton, suffered a blown head gasket and will be out of service until repairs are completed, said Kitsap Transit spokesman Sanjay Bhatt. 

Mechanics are working to fix the engine issue and Kitsap Transit expects to be able to restore service on the Kingston-Seattle by early next week, Bhatt said.

Kitsap Transit warned that cancellations like these were going to be more likely when two backup vessels were pulled from the Kingston and Southworth ferry routes in late July. 

The Enetai and Commander ferries were taken off their routes after both suffering unanticipated failures in their jet propulsion system and aren’t anticipated to return to service for months. The Enetai will be out of service until mid-November and the Commander could be benched until early 2025, Kitsap Transit reported at the time. 

Without the backup ferries, Kitsap Transit told riders that sailings could be canceled on the Kingston and Southworth routes if one of the vessels fails. In this instance, the Rich Passage will be taken from Kingston to cover for the failed Bremerton-Seattle ferry.

Kitsap Transit reported over 12,8000 riders on the Kingston-Seattle route in July and nearly 54,000 riders on the Bremerton-Seattle route the same month. The routes saw 97% and 93% sailing reliability respectively in July.

While the Reliance is being repaired, riders can buy a ticket for Washington State Ferries sailings at the Seattle passenger-only deck. 

Kitsap Transit advises passengers who ride Kitsap Transit buses to the Kingston Ferry Terminal to use routed services from one of its Park & Rides that go to Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal. These are Route 390 –Poulsbo/Bainbridge and Route 333 –Silverdale/Bainbridge.

For passengers traveling from the Kingston or Suquamish area, Kitsap Transit advises taking Route 302 –Kingston/Suquamish Fast Ferry or Route 307 –Kingston/North Viking Fast Ferry to connect with Routes 390 or 333.

Passengers who booked a Kingston Ride Fast Ferry Commuter trip can call 844-475-7433 to check on the status of their trip and pick-up location if they haven't been contacted already. To cancel a trip on the Kingston Fast Ferry, riders should call 844-475-7433 in advance.

Seattle’s faltering office market inches ahead on a long road to recovery

The recent sale of the vintage Dexter Horton Building, at 710 Second Ave., for a quarter of its last sale price in 2019, was yet another sign that downtown Seattle’s battered office market is heading for financial judgment day. 

Across downtown, even newer, larger office buildings are struggling with high vacancy rates and plunging valuations. In the last year alone, the assessed value for large office buildings in the central business district and the Belltown/Denny Regrade area has fallen between 34% and 40%, according to the King County Assessor’s 2024 assessment.

Worse, with more than $1 billion in building loans coming due in the next 16 months and the cost of refinancing still painfully high, more building owners may be pressured to sell at a loss.

Seattle’s downtown is now second only to San Francisco’s for risk of office loan foreclosures, according to a recent analysis by Kaplan Group, a debt collection firm, which warns that high-risk cities “could see a wave of loan defaults or even localized fire sales.” 

The good news: Fire sales and foreclosures could signal the downtown office market is close to bottoming out and poised for recovery, just as in previous office downturns. Already, the slump is creating leasing bargains for opportunist tenants.

The less good news: With roughly a third of downtown office space empty — more than half a square mile, in all — a full recovery will take years and will likely see considerably more carnage along the way.

Even if downtown is “through the worst” of the downturn, “there’s going to be more fallout,” said Trevor Youngren, a senior director at commercial brokerage Cushman & Wakefield and expert in the Seattle-area office market. 

Swipe and go home

Downtown Seattle was supposed to have seen the worst of its office woes last year, as a weaker job market and aggressive return-to-office mandates, particularly from Amazon and other big employers , gave remote workers an incentive to return to the office.  

Instead, many workers stayed remote.

Although downtown has seen a 25% increase in workers at the office three or more days a week since last spring, they’re still nearly 40% below prepandemic numbers, as of early August, according to cellphone tracking data posted by the Downtown Seattle Association . 

At some downtown firms, individual managers let in-office requirements slide to avoid upsetting workers, according to scores of readers who responded to an informal Seattle Times survey. At others, office refuseniks evade mandates by, for example, coming in only long enough to swipe their security badges . 

Seattle’s slow return to the office mirrors national patterns, according to data from commercial real estate firm CBRE, which found that while 80% of employers have mandates, only 17% enforce them.

Given the persistence of remote work despite mandates and last year’s “atrocious” job market, it’s hard to imagine anything seriously moving the dial on return-to-office, said Albert Squires, a Seattle-area tech recruiter. “I do think this is the new normal for Seattle,” he added.

Shrink to fit

That seems to be the consensus of many downtown employers. Though some observers expect return-to-office numbers to keep rising , if slowly, many companies are shrinking their office footprints. 

As of June, downtown office tenants had put almost 3 million square feet of unwanted space, or around 5% of downtown’s total inventory, on the sublease market, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Tenants signing new leases, meanwhile, are taking around 40% less space, on average, than they were in 2019, Cushman said. 

One high-profile example: In November, mega Seattle law firm Perkins Coie said it will vacate nearly 300,000 square feet at the 1201 Third building for a space half the size at the Russell Investments Center on Second; Perkins’ new space will be designed specially for “hybrid work and hoteling.” 

Even as office demand has gone negative — collectively, downtown tenants are giving up more space than they’re leasing up — new supply keeps arriving from construction started before the slowdown.

All told, nearly 33% of downtown office inventory is either vacant or available to sublease, a five-fold increase since 2019, according to local brokerages. For comparison, that’s twice the vacancy at the peak of the Great Recession in 2010, said CoStar, a commercial real estate data firm. 

Downtown Seattle isn’t the only place seeing an office meltdown.

Eastside markets, such as the once-hot I-90 corridor , have seen vacancy soar from 4.7% in 2019 to nearly 38% today. Even in downtown Bellevue, vacancy has tripled, to 10.6%, despite several big new office tenants, including Pokémon and TikTok’s parent ByteDance.

Across King County, the assessed value of office buildings with at least 90,000 “net rentable” square feet fell 32%, or nearly $15 billion, between 2023 and 2024, according to county data.

Most Read Business Stories

• FAA grounds SpaceX after rocket falls over in flames at landing
• Inside Boeing’s factory lapses that led to the Alaska Air blowout
• Living in Seattle on a single income? We want to hear from you
• Court revives Sarah Palin’s libel lawsuit against The New York Times
• The five biggest mistakes people make when buying a new car | Edmunds

But downtown Seattle’s office market faces unique challenges.

Even before the pandemic, some office tenants were looking elsewhere due to concerns about street crime, homelessness and even city politics. In 2019, Amazon famously abandoned plans to move into the still-under-construction Rainier Square tower on Fifth Avenue , reportedly over a new city business tax.

Mostly, downtown Seattle stands out because it’s so large. With around 30% more office space than the entire Eastside, the downtown office market has an outsized impact on everything from property tax revenues to the fortunes of hundreds of downtown Seattle businesses that have struggled from lack of office workers. 

At Salon Voda, on Terry Avenue near Amazon headquarters, owner Rachel Moormeier said she is seeing more business since Amazon ordered workers back. But some of that uptick is because her competition thinned out from lack of office workers. After years of half-empty office buildings, she said, “there are so many fewer salons.”

Most important, the scale of downtown Seattle’s office market weighs on its ability to recover: So much office space is now sitting empty downtown that even if the economy boomed and office demand resumed the hot pre pandemic levels, it would still take 5 ½ years to lease up all of downtown’s excess space.

“Flight to quality”

For some, downtown Seattle’s sagging office market has created new winners and losers.

Where tenants once worried about finding enough office space, they now have many options, often with price breaks on rent, move-in and remodeling costs, brokers say. 

Conversely, many office landlords are struggling, especially those with older properties. Even after offering discounts, many are seeing what brokers call a “flight to quality” as tenants take advantage of the weak market to score nicer spaces in newer buildings. 

Vacancy at the century-old Dexter Horton, for example, was around 50% when it sold, according to the Daily Journal of Commerce .

That’s dragging down the entire downtown, which has a higher percentage of older office buildings compared to other regions. Where advertised rents for offices in downtown Bellevue increased 17% in 2023, they fell 3% in downtown Seattle, according to CBRE.

All this comes as the entire office sector faces a wave of maturing mortgages that will be difficult to refinance at today’s much-higher interest rates. 

In May, for example, Martin Selig Real Estate, one of Seattle’s biggest office landlords, told the Puget Sound Business Journal it was in talks to modify terms of a $329 million loan, backed by seven older office buildings, that was due that month and had been flagged for default risk.  

Through the end of 2025, at least 13 Seattle office loans with a combined balance of $1 billion will mature, according to Trepp, a commercial real estate data firm. And the full number is likely larger, since Trepp tracks the subset of commercial real estate loans that are packaged and sold as securities. 

As office loans mature, office owners may find themselves unable to refinance existing loan balances. That could create pressure to unload underperforming buildings in a property market already depressed by high interest rates, resulting in sales prices potentially far below the office buildings’ previous values, said Tom Taylor, senior research manager at Trepp.

It’s too soon to say whether this “wall of maturity,” as market analysts call it, will touch off a storm of fire sales in downtown Seattle. 

But ripples are already appearing, especially at the older end of the office pool. 

A month after the Dexter Horton Building sold, the 110-year-old Smith Tower changed hands. Although the price for that sale isn’t yet public, one buyer told The Seattle Times the price was “low” — presumably in comparison to the building’s previous sale price of $138 million in 2019. 

While these sales represent only a sliver of the downtown office market, they highlight a broader collapse of office property values during the pandemic. 

Between 2020 and 2024, the combined assessed value of 10 of downtown’s largest office towers has fallen by around half, or by roughly $3 billion, according to data from the King County Assessor’s Office.

Reset and restart 

As painful as those declines are, they offer some grounds for optimism.

As more of these sales gradually “reset” the office market to a lower price level, it can push other building owners to made decisions about their own properties, said Trepp’s Taylor.

With so many loans maturing this year and next year, Taylor said, owners and their creditors may find “it’s a time for choosing.”

At the same time, a cohort of new building owners, having purchased at such a discount, will have financial leeway to offer substantial deals to prospective tenants — including tenants previously priced out of downtown Seattle. 

Downtown landlords “can now compete for tenants in suburban markets,” said Connor McClain, a senior vice president at Colliers, a commercial real estate brokerage. “It’s a tenant’s market.”

A reset will have other advantages. As buildings trade for discounts, they may become ripe for non-traditional uses: Kaplan, for example, thinks that fire sales may also lead to a wave of office-to-apartment conversions.

Finally, a reset could ripple through the broader office economy, as new office landlords offer deals on their street- and lower-level retail spaces, brokers say. 

That could be a boon for existing downtown restaurants and other small businesses.

But it could also bring in a new generation of small-business operators to downtown, said Ethan Stowell, a veteran Seattle restaurateur with downtown locations. 

“I’m not happy that anybody loses money,” said Stowell, referring to the ongoing crash in office values. “But maybe in five or 10 or 12 years, there’s a really vibrant dining scene downtown because the values of all these buildings got reset.”

The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.