Washington's Best Workplaces: GVA Kidder Shares the Wealth

By Greg Lamm, Contributing Writer
The Puget Sount Business Journal

Brokers at GVA Kidder Mathews are affiliated with one of the West Coast's largest independent commercial real estate firms, and staffers in the property management and appraisal divisions enjoy one of the industry's most attractive compensation packages.

Meanwhile, many in the firm enjoy 47th-floor views from the company's headquarters in Two Union Square, one of Seattle's downtown monuments to commerce with its underground concourse leading to shopping at Rainier Square and its lobby and corridors awash in live piano melodies during the workday lunch hour.

But the biggest secret to Kidder Mathews' success as a great place to work goes back to 1969, when founders decided on a broad-based ownership structure. Today, the company is owned by 74 shareholders, all of whom are involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.

Corporate executives say that has allowed the company to expand, prosper and preserve its corporate culture without pressures from large groups of stockholders and corporate headquarters based outside of the Northwest.

"We pride ourselves on our culture and environment," said CEO Jeffrey Lyon, who joined the company 15 years ago when he merged his small real estate business with Kidder Mathews and helped Kidder Mathews launch its Tacoma office.

Lyon has overseen rapid expansion, piggybacking on a commercial real estate boom in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Portland in recent years. Now, Kidder Mathews has one of the largest independent brokerage groups on the West Coast and has the largest property management group in Washington.

Today, Kidder Mathews has seven offices, including a recently opened one in San Francisco. The company's brokerage group, property management division, and appraisal group have more than 300 employees and brokers. The brokerage group oversees about $2.3 billion in annual transactions, including the liquidation of the Seattle Monorail's portfolio of 33 properties valued at $71 million and the $63 million sale of the Regal Logistics Center in Fife.

In the past six years, the company consistently has been ranked as the state's largest commercial real estate firm and among the region's fastest-growing companies overall. Kidder Mathews saw revenues of about $22 million in 2002; last year revenues were $60 million. Lyon said the company is on track to top that amount in 2007.

Lyon said Kidder has made strategic decisions that have allowed it to grow without losing local control of the company.

It was that thinking that in 2003 led Kidder to end its affiliation with New York-based Insignia Financial group and join GVA Worldwide, a real estate network that gave Kidder Mathews a national and international reach while allowing the firm to remain independent and locally controlled.

The move was important, Lyon said, because in the midst of major consolidation in the industry, Kidder Mathews needed a large support network to compete. But Insignia was set to be gobbled up by Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis, which runs Kidder's chief competitor in the region. That left uncertainty about Kidder's future under Insignia's umbrella.

Preserving local control has allowed management to be more responsive to employee needs. Often one meeting or a short exchange of e-mails can result in a suggestion for more staffing, resulting in a new hire, something that recently happened with Kidder's marketing staff, Lyon said.

That kind of interaction has helped foster a tight-knit group who enjoy working together, said Lyon. Some people do quit or are asked to leave because they are not cut out for the fast-paced, high-pressure world of commercial real estate. But overall, Lyon said Kidder enjoys a low turnover rate that has allowed the company to save money on the costly chore of hiring because of constantly churning staff.

The company enjoys low turnover because it is in the fortunate position of being able to attract seasoned people who have a record of success, said Julie Silvers, senior vice president, operations, property management.

Once people join Kidder, they tend to stay. Of the 96 people who work in the firm's property management division, 43 have five or more years of service at Kidder, Silvers said.

Barb Gelling, who manages Kidder's technology systems, is on her second stint at the company. She first worked there as an executive assistant from 1990 to 1993, when her husband took a job in Ohio.

But 18 months later, the couple was back in Washington for their daughter's graduation from the Highline Community College nursing program. The couple missed the Northwest, and Gelling heard there was an office management position open.

"I said, 'Sure I want it, of course,'" said Gelling, who came back to Kidder in July 1994 and today works in the Tukwila office.

Gelling said she feels like part of a team where everybody's opinions are valued, from the top executives down to the brokers, property management staff and support people.

"It's really a hard company to explain," Gelling said. "It's just a very nice atmosphere."

In July, Ben Garrett completed the company's yearlong apprenticeship - runner program – and is the company's newest full-fledged broker, working in Kidder's downtown Seattle office.

Garrett, 24, graduated from the University of Washington in 2005 after majoring in communications and sociology. But he said he always was attracted to real estate. After college, Garrett worked on the sales staff at Merit Financial Inc. for about six months before the Kirkland-based company shut down in May 2006 in the midst of a slowdown in the sub-prime, residential refinancing and second mortgage markets.

Garrett said he had two family friends who worked at Kidder and both spoke highly of their experiences at the company. Garrett said his job is demanding, but his bosses are not overbearing and give him breathing room to do his job.

Garrett said he enjoys the views of Mount Rainier from Kidder's 47th-floor perch. And he also enjoys working with a group of "already successful guys" eager to help the guy who just joined the firm.

"It's become a big company, but somehow it's maintained a small-firm feel," said Garrett.

Lyon, Kidder's CEO, said the company works hard to retain the ability to bring in new people who fit in with the office culture and to be able to attract bright people who desire to work there.

"You can't just rely on the gray-haired people," Lyon said. "To compete, you have to have young guys coming in."