Seattle Press on Line - New Kids on the Block

Fremont

New Kids on the Block

Jan 24, 2001 -- Where shingle mills once thrived, Fremont's waterfront is bustling with new buildings, new tenants, and old businesses doing things in new ways.

The TPN building floats down the canal in a ballpoint re-creation of the firm's innovative approach to finding office space in Fremont.

Two years ago, The Production Network (TPN), which designs and produces events and exhibits, occupied one of those old mill buildings which was slated for demolition to make room for the new Quadrant development west of the Fremont Bridge. TPN moved, but they took the building with them. They floated it down the canal on a barge to a new location, and remodeled it extensively.

Now it's a handsome, traditional-looking building right next to the Lake Washington Rowing Club on North 34th Street. According to company Vice President Richard Belcher, the new floor plan is designed to produce lots of interaction and communication between groups working on different projects.

Two of the buildings in the Quadrant Lake Union Center are finished, and new tenants are just finishing unpacking. Indaba Communications, a virtual reality design firm, occupies the canal-side building. CapitalStream, an online financial facilitator, occupies the building just east of the Sound Mind and Body fitness center.

CapitalStream Marketing Manager Cindy Evans and daughter Emily.

One hundred and forty people work at CapitalStream, which has been headquartered in Fremont since it was founded nine years ago. According to Puget Sound Business Journal, it's one of the fastest growing private companies in the state.

Their new building has plenty of natural light and few internal walls, permitting lots of visual and verbal interaction among employees. A shower room and bike rack are among the incentives CapitalStream provides for not driving to work. The company pays for a FlexCar membership for all workers, and hopes to have a FlexCar stall in its parking garage soon.

CapitalStream Public Relations Director Jennifer Fox says everybody is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Red Door Alehouse, which is slated to move right across the street.

Roy Robinson with his new Canalside building overlooking the ship canal and the Burke-Gilman Trail.

A bit further west on the canal, Roy Robinson, who owns ProLab, is recruiting tenants for a new three-story office building he developed. The handsome brick-sheathed building offers canal views and indoor parking.

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