PORT ANGELES — Real estate broker Dan Gase recently received a call from a prospective contractor for the proposed state Department of Transportation graving yard.
The caller was looking for 200 rentals to house workers when the Port Angeles industrial waterfront project begins this year.
“We just laughed because we might be able to scrounge up five to 10 for them,” Gase said.
A less than 5 percent rental vacancy rate is the reality in Port Angeles.
It’s a reality that concerns Gase, a Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty broker, and his operations manager, Dave Ramey.
Gase and Ramey, who closely watch real estate sales trends by the numbers.
They see little or no increase in the number of apartments and rental homes in a city with hundreds of incoming jobs.
That’s why they’re urging local contractors to build more “spec” homes and apartments to fill the ever-growing rental need.
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