You’ve heard it a hundred times. If your business isn’t growing, it’s dying. For us, “We are on the move, are you?” has been an integral part of the company’s personal and business growth strategy since 2012 when we chose to affiliate with Century 21 Real Estate and open a 2,800-square-foot space in Richland’s financial district with only two licensed affiliated agents. A few years later, by leveraging a comprehensive marketing and advertising program, and an extensive learning strategy for real estate professionals, CENTURY 21 Tri-Cities has grown to 44 sales associates—not including nine administrative staff. As one of the fastest-growing brokerages in the Pacific Northwest, I knew we were outgrowing our space fast…and I mean fast.
We quickly researched a number of possible office and retail spaces and even put in an offer on an existing commercial building. However, after conducting our due diligence process, we found that building a brand new office from the ground up would be a better answer—and the perfect fit for our growing needs.
For the next two years, our journey to find the ideal piece of dirt, an architectural firm and a commercial builder who would all work seamlessly together took place. Secret architecture, builder and low-key color selection meetings were in the works, all while managing a growing real estate business. After months of planning, securing permits and signing the monthly construction draws, we were “on the move” with the construction of a state-of-the-art CENTURY 21 Tri-Cities building.
Fortunately, while our business could have suffered during this time, our affiliated sales associates trusted us and recognized that we would always have their backs.
The result: a new, two-story, 8,800-square-foot building featuring modern and mid-century elements blended together to produce innovative work spaces, a courtyard, café, four conference rooms, a boardroom and learning facility.
Here’s what we learned:
Efficiency Pays Off. From the ground-breaking ceremony to final project completion was a record-setting six months.
Patience. To make one massive move from an old building to a newly constructed one requires total focus on the end result.
Time Management. We took one step at a time through the abundance of tasks, appointments and issues, and the many overwhelming moments we felt during the process faded against the final product and our growing number of satisfied customers.
Inaction does not exist in the competitive business of real estate. Leaders need to be willing to adjust not only tools, products and systems, but also office space itself in order to grow as market leaders. We learned some challenging lessons along the way, but today, we are happy to call 89 Gage Boulevard in Richland, Wash., home to CENTURY 21 Tri-Cities.
Vicki Monteagudo is a broker with CENTURY 21 Tri-Cities.
For more information, visit www.century21tricities.com.
