Seattle's Super Broker

Craig Kinzer has worked in the background of some of the region's biggest deals.

By Dennis Law |   November 2009   |  FROM THE PRINT EDITION

Photo by Hayley Young

Craig Kinzer stands in a building under construction at 501 First Ave. The site was originally acquired and developed for Starbucks, a Kinzer client.

There were no champagne bottles opened in celebration at the offices of Craig Kinzer September 9, when it was announced that Russell Investments would leave its longtime headquarters in Tacoma and relocate to Seattle.

The occasion would have called for it, for sure. Kinzer, principal of Kinzer Real Estate Services, and his team had worked for three years to find the right space for Russell, the global investment company, and its 900 employees in the Puget Sound region. The team from Kinzer, led by Shelley Gill, totaled four people. With representatives from Seneca Real Estate Group, Sellen Construction Co., architects NBBJ, law firms Davis Wright Tremaine and McCullough Hill PS, plus various appraisers factored in, Kinzer estimates the team ultimately comprised 12 people.

"An awful lot of hard work has gone into it," Kinzer says. "That's our job, to put the team together."

After 73 years in Tacoma, Russell Investments was lured to downtown Seattle and the former headquarters of Washington Mutual by Seattle's vibrancy as a corporate and cultural center, which would make it easier for the company to hire new talent. 

But the bottom line was the fire sale on the building. Russell's corporate parent, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Milwaukee, bought the skyscraper for $115 million, less than half of what it had been appraised at in 2008 (Kinzer did not represent Northwestern Mutual in the deal, only Russell). On a square foot basis, the price wasn't much higher than the city of Seattle's storied purchase of the 1-million-square-foot Key Tower for $124 million, for just $124 a square foot, a deal Kinzer also helped negotiate.

 The Russell deal not only brings Seattle a great global brand, but also 900 smart people and a place for fostering new talent. "This is one of the most intelligent and talented groups of associates you could find in a single company, with relatively high payroll per capita," says Kinzer.

The Russell Investments deal is the latest feather in the cap for the 53-year-old Kinzer and his team. Besides the City of Seattle/Key Tower deal, his firm has been involved in locating the site for the Gates Foundation and most of Starbucks' non-retail facilities, including its headquarters in the old Sears building; assembling 1.6 million developable square feet for the Seattle Children's Research Institute at Children's Hospital; managing site selection and negotiation services for Benaroya Hall, as well as acquisition, eminent domain and relocation services for Safeco

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