Bike parking at Stumptown, our favorite cafe in Seattle. Image – blujacket, flickr.

Two prominent Seattle-area developers note that the demand for bicycle parking at residential and commercial buildings was surprising to them.

Kevin Wallace, President of Wallace Properties, observed they added 30 bike racks in a new 107-unit apartment complex near downtown Seattle only because the city required that many.  Wallace “was skeptical the building needed that many” but now all the bike racks are spoken for.

Pat Callahan, of Urban Renaissance Group, noted that in a recent 32-story office tower leasing deal with Nordstrom “the retailer was much more concerned about accommodating bicycles than cars.”

The two were speaking to a gathering of commercial real estate professionals, NAIOP, as reported by the Seattle Times’ Eric Pryne (see second item in this news briefs).

We wrote recently about the emerging trend of bicycle-friendly business districts.  What’s happening in your community? Are businesses and public agencies increasing bike parking in your community.