Bentall has weathered the tough commercial real estate market much the same way wise investors weather down markets: diversification.

Another key ingredient to success, whether in real estate or Wall Street, is not over investing in dot-coms.

“We have only allowed so much of our portfolio to have dot-coms,” said Lisa Rowe, vice president of leasing for Bentall, which opened offices in the Seattle area in 1996. “We are fortunate that we have not had any credit issues with any tenants.”

Bentall’s office building, The Summit in downtown Bellevue, has signed Pepsi-Cola and Learning Garden child care. Still under construction, The Summit should be 50 percent leased by September. Rowe said Bentall is actively negotiating the space.

The 31-story Metropolitan Tower, a downtown Seattle residential project on Westlake completed last summer, is still filling up, Rowe said.

“Business is clearly down from what it was a year ago,” said Rowe. “You don’t build in a market like this. But in terms of putting things in the pipeline, you have to keep the wheel moving forward. We try to keep the existing space full with tenants.”

Bentall diversifies locally by keeping a cross section of tenants, from traditional law firms to engineering companies. That’s the best way to work through a slow period, Rowe said. The question everyone wants to know now is when things will turn around.

“We’re going to have to get through 2002, and in 2003 things will pick up,” she said.