By MARC STILES
There are thousands of commercial real estate development companies in the United States, and the best one is headquartered in Seattle.
On Tuesday, NAIOP, the industry’s trade group, named Touchstone Developer of the Year. It’s the association’s highest honor.
Touchstone, which is developing 2 million square feet of projects in the greater Seattle area, is known for urban infill developments. In South Lake Union, for instance, it’s redeveloping a former laundry into office space for Amazon, and on the north end of the lake it’s turning an old bus shelter maintenance facility into a glassy office building for Tableau Software.
“We try to build a more delightful city in every way, because we will inherit that city in the next round and the next one after that,” Touchstone President A-P Hurd said in a press release.
Douglas Howe founded Touchstone in 1982. The company targeted historic rehabilitation projects in the Tacoma area. Later, the focus changed to ground-up development in the greater Seattle metro area.
NAIOP selected Touchstone from a slate of nominees. Veteran developers evaluated candidates on the quality of their projects, their support of the development industry, financial consistency, ability to adapt to market conditions, and support of the local community.
According to NAIOP, Touchstone is known for timing market cycles, buying and entitling sites during downturns, and often selling when the market is at or near its peak. It has developed a variety of projects, from Northgate North, which Target anchors, to West 8th, a Seattle office tower that sold for nearly $279 million after Amazon leased it. The company also is being recognized for its commitment to environmental sustainability and high-quality design, including creating walkable projects with storefronts where local businesses operate.
In 2014, Seattle-based Urban Renaissance Group, which venerable Seattle investment company Joshua Green Corp. backs, acquired Touchstone. URG operates Touchstone as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Since 1979, NAIOP has named Developer of the Year. Among the past winners is another Seattle company, Vulcan Real Estate.
Photo by Anthony Bolante
