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Over the past 18 months, both Portland and Vancouver, Wash., have steadily ascended as major employment epicenters on the West Coast, rivaling tier one cities like Seattle and San Francisco.

Deterred by skyrocketing rents and limited space options, employers have targeted the Pacific Northwest as an alternative, but idyllic solution to relocate, grow and expand. After all, the Portland metro-area is comparatively cheaper than other markets and it offers a deep and highly educated workforce, as well as a plethora of enviable lifestyle amenities.

Office activity for the third quarter of 2015 only confirmed the hot streak of employers sucking up space. Portland’s Central Business District reported a low 9.48 percent vacancy rate and Vancouver benchmarked a healthy 12.55 percent.

With the secret out about the Pacific Northwest, major tech companies especially have flooded the market. From Google to Amazon to Vancouver’s DiscoverOrg, the tech effect on the metro-area has been apparent. Yet, Vancouver in particular has an advantage with its designation as an Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ).

In 2013, the Washington State Department of Commerce designated three new IPZs to help spur economic growth throughout the state. As one of the three communities awarded a designation, the was designed as an applied digital technology accelerator to grow and support the burgeoning tech cluster in the Greater Vancouver area. Since then, the Vancouver-Camas IPZ has been focused on the downtown startup community and the technology campuses located along the 192nd Avenue corridor.

As a result, the Vancouver-Camas IPZ has attracted significant growth and partnerships between higher education, private businesses and local government. According to the Vancouver-Camas IPZ’s website, downtown Vancouver is now home to nearly 40 digital technology companies and counting.

The Vancouver-Camas IPZ has undeniably fostered Vancouver’s reputation as a tech hub and sanctuary, which has only bolstered recent market activity. As demand for office space outpaces supply, the market has responded with much-needed development. The Hudson Building, a new creative office building at 101 E. Sixth St., will provide 45,000 square feet of Class B office space by December 2015. Columbia Tech Center, a long-term master-planned project being developed in five phases, is the largest commercial project in the area this year.

Columbia Tech Center, situated on 410 acres, has more than 3.4 million square feet of office, industrial, medical and retail space. One of its major tenants, Banfield Pet Hospital, broke ground on its new corporate headquarters in 2015. Banfield Pet Hospital is relocating from North Portland, and its 206,000-square-foot office is expected to open in late spring 2016.

Yet, the most anticipated and buzzworthy metro-area development of late is the Vancouver waterfront project led by Gramor Development. Heralded as a game-changer for both Vancouver and Portland, the Vancouver waterfront project is finally making headway this year, sustained by Vancouver’s robust and thriving economy.

The Vancouver waterfront project was announced in 2008 as the brainchild of Columbia Waterfront LLC, the controlling entity that had acquired the 32-acre property. Columbia Waterfront LLC proposed a master-planned development for the site, and the city of Vancouver unanimously approved the project in 2009.

As a public and private partnership between Gramor Development and the city of Vancouver, the project is a 22-block urban development master-planned to include 1 million square feet of office space, up to 3,300 residential units, 250,000 square feet of retail space and a 200-room hotel.

In January 2015, Phase I of the $1.5 billion project finally commenced with work including underground utilities, sewers and electrical cabling. The construction of Columbia Way, an extension connecting Columbia, Esther and Grant streets, concluded in September 2015. The completion of Columbia Way was integral to the waterfront development as it connects Vancouver’s historic downtown to the waterfront.

Design and development of the waterfront’s 2,600 feet of park and trails is slated to begin in November 2015. The new, $20 million Waterfront Park will open in 2017 with majestic views of the Columbia River. The park’s half-mile trail, for bicyclists and pedestrians, will connect to the 5-mile-long Waterfront Renaissance Trail. A fishing dock accessible by disabled persons will anchor the park’s west end, but the central feature will be a sleek, triangular pier; it will be suspended from cables, jutting 90 feet over the Columbia River.

Construction of buildings is set to begin in spring 2016. The first building on Block 6 at 605 Columbia Way will be 7 stories and contain 61,000 square feet of office space and 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The development also coincides with the Vancouver-Camas IPZ designation, which undoubtedly will prove to be a major attraction for preleasing tenants. M.J Murdock Charitable Trust has already signed a letter of intent to occupy 18,000 square feet of the top two floors. Block 6 will also include an apartment tower with 150 units and retail space.

The Vancouver waterfront project is definitely a game-changer, much like the city’s IPZ designation. With a labor force of 104,000 employees within 5 miles of the site, the Vancouver waterfront is projected to create 8,000 construction jobs and 9,000 permanent jobs upon completion. When all is said and done, the local economy will have gained serious traction, and Vancouver will be poised as the Silicon Forest’s gatekeeper.

Tamara Fuller is a vice president at NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson, a real estate brokerage and asset/property management company. She specializes in office leasing and sales. Contact her at 360-852-9624 or [email protected].

Doug Bartocci is an associate vice president at NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson, a real estate brokerage and asset/property management company. He specializes in office leasing and sales. Contact him at 360-852-9621 or [email protected].