PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 

COMMISSION AGENDA                   Item No.         7a 
Date of Meeting    November 22, 2011 
DATE:      November 15, 2011 
TO:         Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:     Tom Barnard, Research and Policy Analyst 
Geri Poor, Regional Transportation Manager 
SUBJECT:   Century Agenda Committee: Discussion of Real Estate Goals 

SYNOPSIS: 
On October 11, 2011, the Century Agenda Committee convened the "Putting Real Estate to
Work" roundtable, with representativesfrom the real estate development, maritime industrial,
and public sectors. 
In preparation for the roundtable, panelists considered these questions: 
How best can the Port deploy its Real Estate assets to support its other strategic goals? 
How does the Port decide when it is best to buy or sell our real estate assets? 
How can the Port change the mix and level of its assets to increase business and
workforce opportunities? 
How should the Port decide when regional benefits justify Port subsidy? 
What role should the Port play in public and private real estate development, and what
criteria are needed to guide these activities? 
How does the Port compete with other governments that are willing to discount land
values in order to attract jobs? 
Panelists engaged in a dynamic and far-ranging conversation that highlighted the Port's effect in
anchoring maritime, aviation and industrial uses near our facilities, as well as the Port's role with
other governments in providing infrastructure that supports the growing economic vitality of our
region.  Regarding development opportunities, panelists were particularly supportive of real
estate public/private partnerships and outlined potential opportunities to share financial risk
while fostering mutually beneficial business relationships. The Port's "triple bottom line"
approach was universally appreciated in the context of considering opportunities for developable
areas,  recognizing  economic  opportunities  are  not  purely  financial  but  also  consist  of
commitments to its core businesses and constituencies, and obligations to maintain global
competitive advantages.  By committing to retain and foster core businesses and constituencies,

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
November 15, 2011 
Page 2 of 4 
the Port maximizes its global competitive advantages. T he Port's real estate portfolio must
support and further the primary mission of the agency: generating jobs and economic growth. 
At this time,  the Century Agenda Committee is not ready to submit 25-year goals for
Commission approval, and is requesting Commission input at the meeting. Questions currently
being considered are as follows:
Should the Century Agenda include Real Estate goals at all, or are policy decisions in this
area a means to achieve other goals? 
Given the dynamic nature of the Real Estate market, is it possible to state goals that are as
concrete as those involving the Seaport and the Airport? 
How does the Port decide between multiple goals that may conflict with one another?
For instance, should we proceed to develop a property that may have  economic
development benefits, but not pencil out on the Port's bottom line or vice versa? 
REAL ESTATE GUIDING PRINCIPLES: 
When the Port of Seattle began creating the Century Agenda in 2008, the Commission identified
Real Estate as one of four key areas where policy needed to be established.  The Commission
completed the first stage of the Century Agenda's work on August 4, 2009, by adopting the
"Century Agenda: Expert Panels' Recommended Guiding Principles."
The adopted Guiding Principles that apply to Real Estate include the following: 
1.  Port-owned real estate assets serve a dynamic range of strategic interests that include job
creation, resource stewardship and regional economic development. The Port should
develop a tiered asset management system to provide an operational framework to
address this range of interests. 
2.  Real estate activities should take into account the effect of Port operations on the affected
land and discourage activities that would threaten the ability of the Port to perform its
core mission. Facilities central to the Port's core mission should be identified as
"essential public facilities." 
3.  To sustain the economic value of its holdings, the Port should invest in existing or new
infrastructure to support its core mission and the operational requirements of its tenants. 
In recent years, the Real Estate division has developed the tiered asset management system as
recommended, and those efforts led directly to examining this subject through the 2011
roundtables. Since the October roundtable, both the Commission and Port staff have engaged in
iterative discussions to develop strategic goals to further the real estate principles, leading to this
conversation today.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
November 15, 2011 
Page 3 of 4 
BACKGROUND: 
Starting in 2008, the Port of Seattle began creating a "Century Agenda"  a comprehensive
vision and strategic plan that focuses on the Port's next quarter-century. Thegoal is to refresh
the Port's strategic plan, using a process that builds upon the accomplishments of the past 
century with a visionary look forward to the emerging challenges and opportunities of the 21st
century. 
In late 2010, the need for a formal process to finalize Century Agenda strategic goals prompted a
proposal to form a temporary Port of Seattle Commission Committee, as provided for in the
Commission's Bylaws, to oversee the next steps in the Commission's strategic planning process.
On January 4, 2011, the Commission approved the Century Agenda Committee, made up of
Commissioner Albro and Commissioner Creighton. 
Roundtable topics held in 2011 have included the following: 
1) Fostering Economic Growth  April 
2) Moving Cargo: Logistics & Growing Exports  May 
3) Moving People: Airport, Cruise Ships, & Tourism  June 
4) Attracting Next Generation Industries  July 
5) Achieving our Environmental Goals  August 
6) Achieving our Community Values  September 
7) Putting Our Real Estate to Work  October 
8) Funding Our Strategic Goals  November 
Port staff will provide a briefing on the final roundtable on "Funding Our Strategic Goals," that 
was held on November 8, 2011, at the Commission meeting on December 6, 2011. 
By January 2012, the Commission will review and synthesize the various preliminary strategic
goals. After public review and discussion planned for the first half of 2012, the Commission will
give final approval to the strategic goals and adopt the Century Agenda strategic plan. 
OTHER DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS REQUEST: 
Real Estate PowerPoint 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS AND BRIEFINGS: 
On January 4, 2011, the Port of Seattle Commission established a temporary Century
Agenda Committee to further engage in a strategic planning process to develop
quantifiable overarching strategic goals for the Port of Seattle to pursue over the course
of the next twenty-five years.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
November 15, 2011 
Page 4 of 4 
On March 8, 2011, the Port of Seattle Commission authorized for up to $145,000 to meet
the costs of the Century Agenda, including $20,000 for a part-time intern to assist with
organization and logistics, and $30,000 to $40,000 for audio-visual taping services. The
funds come from the Commission's contingency funds. The Commission also received a 
monthly update briefing. 
On April 5, 2011, the Port of Seattle Commission received its second monthly briefing. 
On May 10, 2011, the Port of Seattle Commission approved a preliminary strategic goal
to "Add 100,000 Port-related jobs in the next 25 years." 
On June 7, 2011, the Port of Seattle Commission approved the preliminary goals for
"Moving Cargo"and approved a refined Century Agenda goal for "Fostering Economic
Growth" of "Add 100,000 new Port-related jobs to the existing 200,000 jobs in the region
that are attributable to the economic activity created by the Port of Seattle." 
On July 12, 2011, the Port Commission approved the goals that arose from the "Moving
People" panel. It also heard a briefing on five-year milestones arising from the "Moving
Cargo" panel. 
On August 9, 2011, the Port Commission held a discussion on possible goals that arose
from the "Attracting Next Generation Industries" panel. It also heard a briefing on fiveyear
milestones arising from the "Moving People" panel. 
On September 12, 2011, the Port Commission discussed staff proposed preliminary goals
arising from the "Achieving our Environmental Goals" Roundtable. Port staff responded
to requests for amending goals.
On October 4, 2011, the Port Commission approved amended preliminary goals arising
from the "Achieving our Environmental Goals" panel. 
On October 25, 2011, the Port Commission approved the preliminary goals arising from
the "Achieving our Community Values" roundtable. 
On November 1, 2011, the Port Commission had a presentation and discussion on the
five-year milestones for our environmental goals.