"So there's no real difference between moving and not moving," NBBJ principal Rob Swartz tells GlobeSt.com. "That issue makes it a wash."
There is still the emotional attachment, however, as NBBJ has been in the building for 18 years. Also, there is the creative factor. Swartz says he and other principals like the distinctive floor-to-ceiling staircase in its existing space, among other things.
As for the other options, Swartz says the firm decided on a short list last month and is now in negotiations with the lessors of buildings in Pioneer Square, the rest of Downtown and in the South Lake Union area. Swartz says he hopes to announce a decision in a month or so.
Narrowing it down a bit, Swartz says new construction is out of the question because of timing and economics, which is to say much better deals can be had at existing buildings, especially ones that have been around a while and "have a cost to cover, not a pro forma."
As well, says Swartz, If it's a class A building, it would have to be one designed by NBBJ. That likely means Two Union Square is a candidate. Completed in 1989, NBBJ says the 56-story Downtown high-rise best represents the firm's search for "form and detail appropriate to a region."
"The big drivers are cost and our ability to create a space that makes it readily apparent what we do and ho we do it," says Swartz. "We want something connected and creative."
As to the cost, Swartz says owners seem to be ready to wheel and deal to attract the firm. "The thing I'm finding interesting is that the spread between published rates and actual rates is large," he says. "You get the sense that even on the proposed rates there is a fragility; that the proposed rates would drop again once they knew you were only negotiating with them."
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