REI
11.10.2023
Faced with significant growth constraints, REI engaged Heartland in 2015 to evaluate its corporate headquarters in Kent, Washington, and explore relocation alternatives within the Puget Sound region. Heartland worked with the CEO and Senior Management Team to develop criteria against which to test both geographies and specific sites within those geographies. After an exhaustive search process, REI ultimately chose the Spring District in Bellevue, Washington as the preferred location for their corporate headquarters. REI closed on the property in 2017 and spent the next three years designing, permitting, and constructing an iconic, one of a kind building. As COVID hit in 2020, REI made the difficult decision to sell the almost completed facility, and again turned to Heartland to conduct a discreet outreach effort to find a buyer who could close quickly for maximum value. This effort resulted in the sale of the property to Facebook for $390 million in September 2020. Heartland also brokered the sale of REI’s 16-acre Kent campus to Bridge Development Partners in December 2020. Heartland is now helping REI implement a decentralized approach to its headquarters, with the goal of inking leases for 3-4 locations across the region.
