For a Washington retail owner the property side turns on earthquake, building age and windstorms that bring trees down; the liability side on a notice rule the state Supreme Court loosened in 2021, on crime foreseeability, and on what tenants sell. Send me the tenant schedule, building and roof details, any retrofit paperwork and the current policy for a center in Seattle, the Eastside, Tacoma or Everett, and I can take it to market.
What a Puget Sound underwriter asks first
- Construction and ageWood frame, concrete block, tilt-up or older brick. The City of Seattle describes a typical unreinforced masonry building as brick, generally built before 1945.
- EarthquakeUsually excluded from the building policy and bought on its own. The city puts the chance of a damaging earthquake in the next 50 years at 86 percent.
- Tenant mixRestaurants and bars, cannabis retail, late-night uses, vacancies, and who carries which insurance under each lease.
- Entries and lotsMats, drainage, lighting, cameras and the incident log, because Washington notice law is friendly to a customer who slips on a wet floor.
- Trees and roofsRoof age and the big conifers at the property line. Seattle’s emergency managers say much windstorm damage comes from falling trees.
Brick storefronts and the unreinforced masonry list
Many of Seattle’s older neighborhood retail blocks are brick buildings with shops at the sidewalk. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) counts more than 1,100 unreinforced masonry buildings it treats as collapse hazards, and it sent notification letters to the owners of suspected ones in March 2016. The city keeps a database of these buildings, so expect an underwriter to ask whether yours is in it.
As of November 2026 the retrofit is still voluntary. The city adopted a retrofit standard in fall 2024, as part of the 2021 Seattle Existing Building Code, so that an owner who strengthens a building can have it recognized as retrofitted in the database. SDCI says a mandatory ordinance will follow once supportive resources are available, with advance notice of timelines. The standard is a minimum: bracing parapets and tying the roof, walls and floors together. SDCI also notes that the existing building code already requires parapets and other unsafe appendages to be braced as part of any construction permit, which matters the next time a tenant improvement is filed.
Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management says the Seattle Fault runs east to west through the middle of the city and could produce an earthquake as large as magnitude 7.5, and that deep earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or more, like the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake of 2001, come about every 30 to 50 years. A standard building policy does not pay for that shaking. The Washington insurance commissioner’s consumer guide, which is written for homeowners and renters, describes earthquake cover as something added or bought separately with deductibles usually between 10 and 25 percent of the building limit; on a retail center it is negotiated building by building. I quote commercial earthquake alongside the property policy, and a recognized retrofit is the single document that changes that conversation most. Flood is separate again, under its own flood policy.
Wet entryways, crime on the lot and how Washington splits fault
Washington’s premises liability rules for retail come from its courts, not from a single statute. Two Supreme Court decisions matter to a center owner.
Johnson v. Liquor and Cannabis Board (2021) began with a customer who slipped just inside the door of a state liquor store on a rainy day. Nobody could show the clerk knew the floor was wet. The court held that the reasonable foreseeability exception to the notice requirement applied anyway: where the nature of the business and the way it operates make an unsafe condition reasonably foreseeable, the injured customer does not have to prove the owner knew about that particular puddle. In a region where it is wet outside for much of the year, that puts mats, signs and a written inspection routine at the center of a slip claim.
McKown v. Simon Property Group (2015) arose from the November 2005 shooting at the Tacoma Mall. Answering questions from the federal appeals court, the Washington Supreme Court held that when the duty rests on past experience, an owner must protect business invitees from criminal acts that are foreseeable from prior similar acts on the premises: similar in nature and location, close in time, and numerous enough to put the business on notice. It left open when the place or character of a business alone creates the duty. So your incident log is evidence in both directions, and an underwriter will ask what you did about what it shows.
On damages, Washington is a pure comparative fault state. Under RCW 4.22.005 a claimant’s own fault reduces the award proportionately but does not bar recovery. Under RCW 4.22.070 each defendant’s liability is generally several only, but defendants become jointly and severally liable when the injured person is found not at fault. For a center owner sued alongside a tenant and a security or maintenance contractor, that exception is the reason certificates and additional insured wording get checked every year.
Bars, restaurants and cannabis retailers
Alcohol. RCW 66.44.200 forbids selling liquor to any person apparently under the influence of liquor. In Barrett v. Lucky Seven Saloon (2004) the Washington Supreme Court held that this statute sets the minimum standard of conduct for a commercial host whose overservice leads to a drunk driving crash that injures someone else. The rule is aimed at the business that serves; the statute does not name the landlord. An owner can still be drawn into a suit over what happens on the lot afterward, so I ask every tenant that serves alcohol for liquor liability with the owner as additional insured.
Cannabis. A cannabis store needs a retailer license from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, and in Seattle a city business license tax certificate and a Seattle cannabis regulatory business license as well. State law bars a license within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, parks, transit centers, libraries and similar places unless a city or county has shortened the distance by ordinance, never below 100 feet and never for elementary or secondary schools or playgrounds. Board rules require an alarm on all perimeter entry points and windows and video surveillance that records 24 hours a day.
For the landlord the insurance point is disclosure. Cannabis remains illegal under federal law, some property insurers will not write a building with that occupancy, and a policy placed without mentioning the tenant is a claim dispute waiting to happen. Tell me before the lease is signed, and require the tenant to carry its own dispensary coverage naming you.
Wind, trees, sidewalks and empty storefronts
Puget Sound does not get hurricanes or much hail, but Seattle’s hazard profile says the region can see sustained winds of 60 to 70 miles an hour with gusts up to 90, that structural damage is the costliest consequence of windstorms, and that much of it comes from falling trees. In the 2006 storm, 49 percent of Seattle City Light customers lost power and full restoration took a week. For a center that means roof and sign damage, and tenants that cannot open; ask whether your loss of rents cover responds when the outage starts off your premises.
Sidewalks are yours to maintain. The Seattle Department of Transportation says the municipal code makes adjacent property owners keep sidewalks in good repair and safe for public travel, which includes clearing vegetation, snow and ice and repairing damage. Lifted panels at tree roots are a routine trip claim.
Seattle has no storefront registry, but it does have vacant building standards. SDCI requires vacant buildings to be secured against entry and weather; those that fall short, or that sit in the development process, are put in a monitoring program with monthly inspections and fees until three consecutive inspections find no violations. Vacancy also changes the policy itself, so tell me when an anchor goes dark.
Lessor’s risk, loss of rents and the Washington FAIR Plan
Most center owners I work with carry a lessor’s risk policy: the building, the owner’s liability for common areas, and loss of rents. Three things deserve attention here. Loss of rents should run long enough to rebuild and re-lease, not just to repair. Ordinance or law coverage pays for the code upgrades a damaged older building triggers, and in a brick building that can include the bracing described above. And every lease should require the tenant’s liability policy to name the owner, with a certificate on file.
If the standard and surplus lines markets both decline a building, the Washington FAIR Plan, set up in 1968, writes basic fire insurance on commercial buildings, with extended coverage and vandalism available. It does not offer liability, theft or most water losses, it generally will not insure vacant structures, and the state rule caps what it can place on one property at one location at one and a half million dollars. It is a backstop, not a program for a healthy center.
What to send me
- Addresses, year built, square footage and construction for each building.
- Masonry status: whether the building is in the city’s database, and any retrofit or parapet bracing permits.
- Roof details: type, year replaced, and wind or water claims.
- Tenant schedule with uses, hours, alcohol or cannabis sales, lease type and vacancies.
- Tenant certificates, including liquor liability and the cannabis retailer’s policy.
- Security and maintenance: lighting, cameras, incident log, entry mat and inspection routine.
- Current declarations pages and five years of loss runs.
Common questions
Who insures strip malls and shopping centers in Seattle?
Admitted and surplus lines insurers both write Washington retail centers; which ones fit depends on construction, age, tenant mix and loss history. As a broker I match those facts to the markets that want that profile.
Do I need earthquake insurance on a Seattle shopping center?
A standard building policy typically excludes earthquake, and the city estimates an 86 percent chance of a damaging quake in 50 years. Some lenders require it; it is bought separately with its own deductible.
Is the unreinforced masonry retrofit mandatory in Seattle?
Not as of November 2026. The city adopted a voluntary retrofit standard in fall 2024 and says a mandatory ordinance will follow once supportive resources are available.
Am I liable if a customer slips on a wet floor at my Washington center?
Possibly, even without proof you knew of the spill. The Washington Supreme Court held in 2021 that notice is not required when the nature of the business makes the unsafe condition reasonably foreseeable.
Can I lease to a cannabis retailer and keep my building insurance?
Often yes, but only with an insurer that accepts the occupancy, so disclose it before the lease is signed. The tenant needs its state and Seattle licenses and its own policy naming you.
Is a Seattle landlord liable when a bar tenant overserves someone?
Washington’s overservice rule applies to the business that sells the liquor, not to the landlord by name. Owners still get sued over incidents on the property, which is why the tenant’s liquor policy should name you.
Does the Washington FAIR Plan cover commercial buildings?
Yes, for basic fire with optional extended coverage and vandalism, up to a capped limit per location. It offers no liability, theft or most water coverage and generally excludes vacant buildings.
General information about insuring shopping centers and strip malls in Seattle and the Puget Sound region as of November 2026, not legal advice. Court decisions, statutes, city codes, retrofit rules, licensing rules and policy forms change; confirm coverage terms on your own policy and your duties as an owner with Washington counsel. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.