WAC Magazine

August 2014

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32 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | AUGUST 2014 1201 Third Avenue, and Two Union Square all opened. To this day, they remain the city's tallest three buildings. With college graduation approach- ing, Kip made plans to tour the country, a great American road trip with friends to every Major League Baseball park. His last task, a senior project that fo- cused on Two Union Square, included a competitive analysis of the skyscraper. His research put him in contact with the who's who of Seattle commercial real es- tate. Doors high above the city opened for the undergrad whose ferryboat wanderings were turning into something much more than a dream. Kip's senior project was an impres- sive success. Days before he was to leave for the open road, he received an offer. The Norman Company, then arguably the city's best commercial real estate brokerage, wanted the young SPU standout to join its team. "I thought life comes down to moments," Kip recalls. "I thought if I turn this down, it's not going to be there when I come back." His friends hit the highway and completed the road trip they had long planned. Kip stayed behind. His career climb was just beginning. COMMERCIAL CONNECTIONS Concerning Seattle, you'd find it diffi- cult to meet a commercial real estate professional with more expertise and connections than Kip Spencer. During his early days at The Norman Company, Kip represented several Fortune 500 companies, overseeing their search for space in downtown and connecting building owners, managers and ten- ants. He loved the work, but by January 1995 he realized, in his words, "that the business lacked some efficiency." Around that same time, he began hear- ing about, "this thing called the World Wide Web." "I'd never actually been on it," he recalls now. "But I decided to go on it for the first time. I went to Yahoo—this is before Google—and searched for 'real "Kip's introduction to the WAC came during his second day on the job at The Norman Company in 1990. A colleague told him to bring his gym bag so they could work out and play basketball. Kip joined the Club the following month." A Seattle Pacific University alumnus and executive advisory board member of the business school, Kip walks on campus with SPU President Dan Martin. Kip's lifelong love of nature remains strong. Here, he takes in the sights of the forest on a recent hike. J E R R Y A N D L O I S P H O T O G R A P H Y

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