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May 14, 2014
Kemper Bares It All
Show it to them, and they'll lease. (Business is a lot easier than people are making it.) That's Eastside Bellevue developer extraordinaire Kemper Freeman'sthinking when it comes to attracting tenants to the new expansion of Lincoln Square and Bellevue Square.
Kemper's known for the volumes of research his company does before undertaking anything new, and that's certainly the case with the 550 apartments, 700k SF of office, 350k SF of retail and restaurants, and 500 hotel rooms in two properties he's developing, starting this summer. But he tells us that the goal is to have all of that space leased by the time it's complete in about three and a half years. How? Allow would-be tenants to visualize their space in great detail. (They should try hypnosis.)
“Nine out of 10 people aren't very good at visualizing something that isn't in front of them,” Kemper tells us. To help them visualize, Kemper unveiled plans recently for the 4,100 SF Studio Expansion Experience Center, which he calls an “experiential” sales center with “technology that didn't exist only a few years ago.” SoCal-based Voyager Group developed custom software for the facility. The studio's main feature is a model of Kemper Freeman's 50 acres, which can be lit up by floor or specific space. Near the model are floor-to-ceiling screens that can show the view from anywhere in any of the future buildings, along with how any interior space looks in 3D. (And you thought Minority Report was only a movie.)
Office Gets Creative
The exact definition of “creative office space” is a little hard to pin down (some people call that the elephant test), but Graham Baba Architects partner Jim Graham tells us that he sees it trending toward more social space that gathers energy from an office community or culture, and also as flexible space that morphs to the changing needs of project phases, grouping of teams, client interaction methods, and a younger demographic of talent. Jim's going to be a panelist at our first-ever Seattle Creative Office Space Summit, which will be at the Hyatt Olive 8 on May 21. (Sign up here.)
Jim adds that just as the notion of a phone number attached to a desk or office no longer has relevance, the idea that someone's workplace is defined by their desk or cubicle is waning. Also on the panel will be execs from Dunn + Hobbes, Impact Hub Seattle, Lake Union Partners, Regus, True Fabrications, and WeWork. Go on, register.
Big CCIM Merger
The Washington State Chapter of CCIM is incorporating the Inland Northwest Chapter. CCIM-WA chapter prez Fred McConkey tells us that the joining of the two will allow the CCIM-WA chapter to provide services to another 150 members (about the same as the current CCIM-WA membership). Snapped: recently minted CCIM designees of the CCIM-WA chapter: CB Richard Ellis' Mary Tisdale, Andover Co's Sean Durkin, Michael Kaz, and Rush Properties' Benjamin Tweet. Not pictured new designee: Coast Equity Partners' Joshua Jansen.
Start Your Career Right Here
What makes a good place to start a career? (Cheap, bulk-buy ramen?) Jobs, obviously, but also quality of life, and on both scores Seattle does well, according to a recent report by WalletHub. Seattle's #4 overall as a place to start a career, behind only DC, Denver, and the DFW suburb of Irving. Seattle's #20 in professional opportunities, but #4 in quality of life (Aurora, Colo, is #1 in that metric). It's more evidence that Seattle's a magnet for younger workers, with all that implies for the real estate market.
Live from BLIS!
Yesterday, Daily Caller editor and TV talking head Tucker Carlson kicked off our national hotel investment conference in DC, BLIS, saying swift changes in demographics, free markets, religion, and ideology are having a profound effect on politics—citing Mitt Romney's recent support of a minimum wage hike as a prime example of how things have shifted. As for 2016, Tucker says that while Hillary Clinton is the presumed Democratic frontrunner, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is actually his pick to take the nomination, since her politics are more with the party than Hillary's.
450 hospitality pros have descended on the brand-new Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington, which is—at 1,175 room—the largest hotel in the city. We also heard from Trump Hotels COO Jim Petrus, Thayer Lodging chairman Fred Malek, and 40 other hotel experts.
