Business is good for many of Ballard's manufacturing and industrial businesses, and some are expanding - just not here.

The area's lacks of large warehouse space, coupled with rising land costs, make it difficult for a thriving industrial business to grow. As a result, several have decided to leave Ballard.

Mark Morel, co-owner of Ballard Brass and Aluminum Inc., said industry is certainly not dying in Seattle, but in Ballard, "it's all going away."

Morel's company, which has been operating in Ballard since 1920, will move to Georgetown this summer to a building more than double the size its space in Ballard. Its approximately 23 employees will go from 15,000 square feet to about 34,000.

And rent will be much more affordable, too, said Morel, dropping from $1 a square foot to .55 cents.

The company's move to a larger building will enable Ballard Brass to expand beyond prototype production and add assembly lines for tempered aluminum castings and metal parts that must be sealed to hold air and fluids, according to the Manufacturing Industrial Council of Seattle.

University Swaging, a company on Northwest 45th Street that makes cables and rods to control rudders and flaps on jetliners', recently announced its move to a new 107,000-square-foot building in south Snohomish County in 2009.

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, "We looked a lot in Ballard, it's always been a great area for us," said Conrad Scheffler, general manager of Swaging, and corporate vice president of its parent company Primus International Inc., based in Bellevue.

"But at the end of the day, trying to find 100,000 square feet in Seattle, heavy industry-friendly on a single floor, it's not going to happen in the Ballard area today."

Long-time Ballard real estate agent Barry Hawley said this is nothing new. Ballard has always served as an "incubator" for small businesses.

"But they can only grow so big here," said Hawley. "That's kind of the history of Ballard. (It) can get them started but can't really sustain them."

Land prices have gone up and it does affect industrial uses, but it's not excessive here, yet, he said.

"It's pretty steady," said Hawley, noting a 10,000 square foot building can be rented for about $100,000 a year, equal to about two worker's salaries.

The two largest spaces on the market now are a 21,000 square foot space left open by Hamilton Jet and two building's totaling about 30,000 square feet will be empty when University Swaging leaves next year.

Hawley said it's not only the lack of work space, but also Ballard's "urban remote" location can work against some types of industrial businesses that do a lot of distribution.

Hamilton Jet, a major supplier of water jet propulsion and marine hydraulic steering gear, moved from Ballard to Woodinville four weeks ago. The business and its distribution were growing and it couldn't find the space it needed here.

Wesmar, a chemical specialty company located by the Ballard Bridge on Northwest 46th Street since 1968, is also leaving to make room for a major commercial development, Ballard Blocks.

Jacobsen's Marine, a 56-year-old Ballard business, announced last summer it plans to leave for a larger space closer to Interstate 5 at the Port of Edmonds by the end of this year.

The company needs more room to maneuver and show its growing fleet of recreational fishing vessels, the co-owner of the company told the News-Tribune last summer.

Still, some industrial businesses have found the space to grow here.

John Whitcomb, owner of Seattle Marine Group Ltd., a yacht repair company, said he's been able to expand his business, recently acquiring space for a new repair facility in downtown Ballard.

"We are growing right along with Ballard," said Whitcomb. "It's a great place to be right now. We want to stay here."

Whitcomb's client and payroll list is growing and sales are up by about 25 percent.

The company has two locations here now, one at Jacobson's Terminal, next to the Ballard Locks on the north side of the ship canal, and a new showroom and repair facility at Inflatable BoatWorks Inc. on the corner of Leary Avenue Northwest and Dock Place.

In the meantime, the city is making efforts to keep industry in the city, passing new zoning regulations to restrict the amount of commercial and retail development in Seattle's two industrially zoned areas, the

Duwamish and Ballard Interbay Northend manufacturing and industrial centers.

Whitcomb remains optimistic about industry growth here and insists there is space in Ballard for businesses to stretch out.

"We're doing really well," he said. "There's not a chance in the world I'd leave Ballard."

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at rebekahs@robinsonnews.com or 783.1244.