On Wednesday, December 16, attendees of the monthly Breakfast meeting were treated to our 4th annual “Defining Moments” program, which focused on the Development and Land Assemblage of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The breakfast was sponsored by Clark Construction - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. Sharon Coleman gave the assembly an update on the new members. We viewed a wonderful video presentation on the Community Enhancement project at YMCA’s Camp Terry and received heartfelt thanks from the YMCA. We also got an update on the Real Estate Challenge. Our neighbors to the south – Portland State University – will be in the challenge this year, along with University of British Columbia and University of Washington.

Cleita Harvey pinch hit as moderator and did a wonderful job! The panelists were:

The 2016 session of the Washington State legislature will convene on January 11 for a 60-day session. Following a record 172 day session in 2015, expectations for 2016 are that the legislature will complete its business on time.

One of the major issues confronting the 2016 legislature will be addressing the Washington State Supreme Court decision that found charter schools, passed by a 2014 citizen initiative, to be unconstitutional. A bi-partisan group of legislators is expected to propose a statutory remedy to cure the issue of constitutionality. The legislature is also expected to prepare a plan to meet the Supreme Court’s ruling that the legislature is not funding K-12 schools appropriately. A small supplemental budget is also expected. Given the narrow 50-48 Democrat control in the House and the 26-23 Republican control in the Senate, there are not expected to be many issues of controversy.

Davis Property & Investment is pleased to announce that construction is underway for a new 36,237 square foot flex building located at 2750 Williamson Place NW, DuPont, WA. This will be DPI’s 7th building under construction in Washington State in 2015.

Located at the premier corner of DuPont-Steilacoom Road and Center Drive, Center Plaza Building 1 will have elegant glass store front entrances with grade-level loading doors and a typical suite size of 2,400 square feet. Center Plaza project is a six-building project consisting of approximately 180,000 square feet located within the 3,500 acre Northwest Landing campus.

On Wednesday, November 18, attendees of the monthly Breakfast meeting were presented with a fascinating update from the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) on their Vision 2040 project. This project seeks to provide guidance to the governments of King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap Counties in attaining the goals of the Growth Management Act (GMA). The breakfast was sponsored by PCL Construction and ABC - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. Sharon Coleman gave the assembly an update on the new members. Tom Doig from PCL spoke briefly about his company.

On Wednesday, October 21, the Developing Leaders Committee presented a program entitled “Are You Ready for the Next Generation of Leadership?” The breakfast was sponsored by BN Builders and Adolfson & Peterson Construction - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. Incoming NAIOP President John Teutsch began the meeting with a list of new members. Davis Vaughn from the Developing Leaders Committee gave an update on the Mentoring Program. Angelia Wesch, Partner with Oles, Morrison, Rinker moderated a panel that was eminently qualified to address the topic at hand. Panelists included:

• Mark Hoyt – Trammell Crow Residential
• Douglas Howe – Founder of Touchstone Development
• Kemper Freeman – Chairman and CEO of Kemper Development

This blog post recaps NAIOP Washington State's Sustainable Development Committee Energy Code and Benchmarking Roundtable Presentation, held on October 13, 2015.  Eric Vander Mey, Principal – Director, Rushing, and Christie Baumel, Climate & Energy Advisor, Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment, presented at the meeting and gathered feedback. Their slide presentations are available as PDFs; look for the link following each section.   

Davis Property & Investment & Schuchart-Hutchinson recently acquired a 40 acre+/- site located in Frederickson, WA. The project, called Frederickson 40, is available for build-to-suit lease or sale.

The site is suitable for a bulk distribution or specialty build-to-suit building up to 900,000 SF. The site can also accommodate smaller building footprints. EC zoning allows outside storage for a variety of yard-intensive users and manufacturing users. Neighboring tenants include Whirlpool, Ikea and Boeing. The SEPA review process is complete and MDNS was issued by Pierce County.

Davis Property & Investment (DPI) is an accomplished and experienced developer and asset manager of commercial real estate in the greater Puget Sound market. With strategic alliances among many of the region's finest service providers, DPI’s development and management team ensure higher than average project success and performance. DPI currently manages commercial real estate assets from Seattle, WA, to Portland, OR.

Schuchart Hutchinson specializes in new development and rehabilitation of office, industrial and mixed-use projects. The firm leverages its collective skills and expertise in development and construction to expand their real estate portfolio by pursuing opportunities in and around the Puget Sound region.

Politics! Can’t live with it or without it. On September 16, NAIOP Breakfast attendees were treated to a Seattle City Council candidate forum. The breakfast was sponsored by Clark Nuber - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. Incoming NAIOP President John Teutsch began the meeting and gave the assembly an update on the new members and conducted the Election of Board Members and Officers. Tim Syverson told us about the Community Enhancement event on October 3 at Camp Terry. Lastly, Gordon Buchan outlined the nominees for the Night of the Stars Event in November.

On August 19, Sellen Construction’s Rooftop Deck was packed with the developing leaders of Seattle’s real estate community. CoreNet Global, Crew Seattle & Sound, Urban Land Northwest Institute and NAIOP came together to organize the Real Estate Emerging Leaders networking event hosted by Sellen. The goal and intent—bringing together four of Seattle’s most prominent real estate organizations in one room and provide the opportunity to network—were hugely successful.

Guests enjoyed catering, refreshments and good conversation, and thought the integration of these Seattle based organizations was a great idea. As Heather Skeehan from GLY put it, “The broad range of attendees was extremely refreshing. It was wonderful to get to enjoy the sun, beer and a group with such diverse backgrounds.” With reviews like this, it is likely we will see more of these collaborative events.

On behalf of NAIOP and the participating organizations we would like to say thank you to our platinum sponsor, the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington, our gold sponsors BCRA and the Master of Real Estate Development at Portland State University, and the rest of our corporate sponsors who helped make the event a success. Thank you and we look forward to sharing the projects that are to come from this group of developing real estate leaders. 

Since the unveiling of the University of Washington Tacoma’s sprawling University Y Student Center last January, a two-story mural adorning the lobby has welcomed visitors with views into Tacoma’s past and present. Completed by Tacoma artist Chelsea O’Sullivan, the painting depicts a modern container ship alongside a much older one, paying homage to the Longshoremen’s Hall union building that previously stood on the project site for 60 years, as well as the union and its members. The title reads: “In Unity There’s Strength.” The collaborative effort behind the design and construction of the University Y Student Center and recent accolades reflect that very theme.

This year was my first time walking the Property Tour with NAIOP. When I registered, I thought, There is no way I could spend my whole day at this event. For sure, I would drop by, have lunch and go back to work. At 4:55 p.m., I looked at my half-drunk glass of wine at Evo’s Happy Hour and wondered where the time had gone.

It all began with lunch under an expansive tent on Kilroy’s Fremont Lake View Plaza. A panel of the who’s who in Fremont created quite the conversation over lunch. Robert Hendricks (Tableau), Rachel Yang (Joule), TJ Lehman (Mack Urban), Bryce Phillips (Evo), Mike Shields (Kilroy), and Michael Osterfeld (Fremont Dock Co.) answered a variety of questions posed by moderator Kyle Branum of Riddell Williams. 

On Thursday, June 25, NAIOP and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound united to put on the annual BIG Invitational golf tournament at Washington National. The eighth installment of this scramble tournament went off without a hitch, drawing a full course and completely sold-out sponsorships; $75,000 was raised for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the best year yet!

“We’ll need a bigger course for next year,” says Jeff Davis, NAIOP and BBBSPS board member. The NAIOP South Sound Committee—Jeff Davis of Davis Property & Investments, Michelle Clingingsmith with Kilroy, Monte Decker with CBRE and Sean Durkin of The Andover Company—worked together to fill the sponsorships, and a big thanks goes out to the staff at Big Brothers Big Sisters for running yet another tournament flawlessly.

On behalf of the South Sound Committee, BIG Tournament subcommittee and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound, we would like to thank all of our event sponsors for their generosity and helping us put on a great event. They are the key to the success of this fundraising event, and even went so far as to make sure all of us golfers were well lubricated and entertained at every hole. We are all looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2016!

Title & Company: Senior Associate, Weber Thompson

More than ever before, developers are incorporating public art into their projects in the interest of adding both aesthetic beauty and brand distinction to their real estate investments. They realize that art—if done thoughtfully and collaboratively—can serve to draw positive attention to their buildings, particularly in mixed-use buildings that bring together an eclectic mix of urban audiences.