CRE Permanent in Olympia

A tenant base that does not move with the housing cycle. Government employment was 43,800 of the metro's 133,400 nonfarm jobs in July 2026, 32.8% of all employment, more than double the national share. An office, flex, or mixed-use asset leased to or serving that state-government footprint around the Capitol Campus carries unusually low cyclical beta, which is exactly the kind of income stream permanent lenders want to see on a long-term hold.

Stable, and the honest pitch stops there. Metro state employment rose 22.9% from 2018 to 2024, then went flat to slightly down for two years running, and Washington's statewide government payroll fell 2.1% in the year to July 2026. A permanent loan against a government-serving tenant is underwriting a state budget cycle, not a growth story, so size leverage and amortization to a payroll that holds rather than one that expands.

Two: healthcare, anchored by Providence St. Peter Hospital, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a far larger anchor than either. JBLM employs nearly 40,000 military personnel, including reserves, and 15,000 civilians, one of the largest employer bases in Washington, positioned immediately north of Lacey and DuPont. Providence St. Peter operates in Olympia and describes itself as the leading hospital in southwest Washington, providing a full array of services to communities in Thurston, Lewis, Mason, Grays Harbor, and Pacific counties, though a verified employee or bed count for the hospital specifically was not sourced, so we do not put a headcount on it here. Between the two, JBLM's footprint is the larger institutional anchor in the metro; underwrite the lease and the tenant's credit in front of you either way.

Bridge it first, then refinance into permanent debt once the rent roll is signed. A bridge loan carries the property through lease-up or repositioning, and once stabilized, we refinance into permanent debt across the same agency, insurance, and wholesale channels. That two-step path matters more downtown, where the City documents recurring tidal flood exposure at street level and assumes built-in flood mitigation only on buildings constructed after 1996, both of which are worth resolving before a permanent lender prices the asset.

Not the income, and not the gain, but it does tax the sale itself. Washington has no personal or corporate income tax on income earned today, and its capital gains excise tax does not reach real estate transferred by a recorded deed. A separate 9.9% tax on individual income above $1,000,000, which expressly reaches rental and pass-through income, is scheduled for tax years beginning 2028 and is under legal challenge, so it does not touch a file you write today. What it does charge on a sale is real estate excise tax, graduated by price on the state side and stacked with a 0.50% local add-on in every Thurston County jurisdiction except Rainier at 0.25%. Between purchase and sale, the annual property tax stack is the main carry line: Thurston County revalues every parcel every year with no acquisition-triggered reset, so an improvement that lifts value shows up in the following year's assessment on schedule. Talk to your Washington CPA about how a sale of the holding entity, rather than the deed, could be treated differently.