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It takes more than a dilapidated and somewhat funky site to scare off Traid Development.
Whether it’s an aging pier on Seattle’s waterfront or an ecologically unsound site near Gas Works Park, Triad sees the silver lining.
"We’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves and we won’t be scared off or overwhelmed by any situation," said Fred Grimm, president of Triad.
Just when it seemed there was no hope for the ailing Pier 70, Triad came along to save the day and developed the pier into a successful commercial real estate site. Go2Net took the entire space for its headquarters.
"Pier 70 had been taken back by a bank and was available for anybody to buy," he said. "At the time, it had challenges with the bad night club and failed retail concept. But we weren’t overwhelmed by that challenge and we knew there were only so many piers on the waterfront."
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Developing Pier 70 was a coup for Triad, and established the firm as a player in the high-tech commercial real estate field. Grimm said Triad has learned about the demands of high-tech firms.
High-tech firms are looking for spaces with character and personality, he said.
"High-tech companies are breaking the rules as far as traditional business models," he said. "They like spaces that are more creative in outlook than the traditional office park or downtown high rise."
With a headquarters as unique as Pier 70, which gained publicity as the site of MTV’s "Real World" show in 1998, Grimm said Go2Net’s new signature space will help the company’s identity and its efforts to keep and recruit employees. Firms look for dynamic downtowns like Seattle to help their recruiting efforts.
Keeping with its theme of revamping long-forgotten structures, Triad is also developing the former Skyway Luggage warehouse in Belltown.
"It’s the same sort of thing, in terms of the older building with a prior history of being a salmon-smoking facility and later a luggage manufacturing facility," he said. "But it has the same big timbers [as Pier 70], and a good view and will allow for the cooperation of old and new and have some personality."
Colman Tower in Seattle, Triad’s other recent project, is unlike Pier 70 and Skyway in that the firm will be starting from scratch rather than redeveloping an existing building. But Triad will adhere to the designs of surrounding historic Pioneer Square buildings.
"We will design a building that incorporates the charm of older buildings and have character to it," he said.
The company is also working on a 103-unit condo development on north Lake Union and a 1,000-unit master planned community called Hiddenbrooke, in the Northeast Bay Area.
"We’re using the publicity [for the Bay Area project] to spread the word to come up to Seattle. Our city has a proven track record as a more exciting place for people to live and work. We’ve become a trend setter in a way, with Starbucks and Amazon."
In the future, Grimm said the company may look at some development opportunities in Ballard because of its proximity to downtown and reputation as a traditional neighborhood.
"In terms of development, there’s only so many properties that haven’t been developed," he said. "It’s the company that has the creativity in solving the problem that’s going to be successful in developing. So far, we’ve been pretty successful in that area."