5 Winter Escapes For CRE
When you live in the rainiest place on Earth (after Forks, anyway), it's natural to want to go somewhere else every now and again. With one notable exception, our unofficial survey shows that Seattle's CRE players prefer warmer climes when on winter break.Here are five destinations:
SAN FRANCISCO--Intervest Commercial Real Estate Finance VP Matt Couch tells usvacation was a chance to visit his old stomping grounds in the Bay Area--and get a little work done, too. (Matt's originally from Palo Alto and has been in Seattle for 13 years.) "I used the opportunity to do a site visit on a retail center in Mountain View for which I am structuring a construction loan with one of our life company lenders," he tells us. Pictured above: Matt, wife Dawn, daughter McKenna,and son Isaac, as well as Sprocket, the seven-year-old Wheaten Terrier and "first-born child."
Machu Picchu-- Orion Commerical Partners founder Dan Foster and his nephew Zack began climbing Mt. Machu Picchu at 4am on Dec. 22, the day Nostradamus predicted the end of the world. "I figured we better have a front row seat," Dan recalls. In the end, all was peaceful, and Dan and Zack saw lots of people in white robes below the famous Incan ruins, chanting and praying. "If you think that's odd, try spending New Year's Eve in Ecuador's capital, Quito," Dan advises. Some highlights: "Lots of setting fire to things in the street."
Whistler, B.C.-- While Dan was living it up in South America, his colleague Matthew Hinrichs happily spent his time off in a freezer. Seen above, Matt doesn't seem to mind the cold, given the drink he's got in hand to warm the spirits. This is the Belvedere Ice Room at the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler Village, where patrons slip into a fur-lined coat and what looks like an ice cave, where the vodka is chilled at -30 degrees. That's Matt and his wife Laura above. How's vodka taste at -30 degrees? Unbelievably smooth, Matt tells us.
The Middle East--The ideal getaway for anyone who hates sitting in traffic, explains NBS Financial's Jeff Henderson, who recently came back from snorkeling in the peaceful blue waters of Muscat, Oman and racing a supercar in Dubai. Jeff tells us that he walks to work, and when he does drive, Seattle's traffic brings out his inner speed racer, though he doesn't indulge it. Fortunately, in Dubai he got the track all to himself. "While I could only get up to 142 miles per hour between corners, it was still a nice time," he says.
Phoenix-- Wallace Properties CEO Bob Wallace's most recent getaway was to warm Phoenix, where he climbed Camelback with his 11-year-old grandson, Garrett. How did Garrett like the hike? "He was a trooper," Bob reports. Above, the two happy campers pose with the city below.
