Patience pays off for The Bravern's investors

When Managing Investment Parter Dan Ivanoff of Schnitzer West, LLC purchased the property surrounding Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center in 2000, he never envisioned his final project would be eight years in the making.

His patience paid off.

Bellevue now will be home to the new, 1.6 million-square-foot, European-inspired village center, The Bravern. Named after the brave, entrepreneurial spirit of the Eastside, the expansive development will feature 35 luxury shops and three award-winning restaurants including the recently announced John Howie Steak and Wild Ginger.

The retail village, located on the corner of Northeast Eighth Street and 112th Avenue, will be situated in the center of a two-tower office complex housing software Microsoft employees and two residential towers with 455 condominiums.

Schnitzer West, the Bellevue real estate development company that is co-owned by Ivanoff and Portland-based Schnitzer Investment Corp, has leased the city-owned 1.2 acre lot just north or the convention center for temporary construction use. The city plans eventually to use that space to expand the Meydenbauer Center, adding to the Bravern’s appeal.

The Bravern’s two residential and two office towers will hover high above the open-spaced retail shopping hub, integrating new retail with elegant, classic architecture.

The outdoor-shopping village, designed by Seattle-based architecture firm Callison, is under construction and scheduled to open in September 2009.

The Bravern will be anchored by a 125,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus department store, the first to appear in the Northwest. Other well-known luxury shops joining Neiman Marcus will include Bottega Veneta, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, David Barton Gym, Hermes, and Red Door Spas.

“(The Bravern) is really focused on people who embrace fashion as a lifestyle,” said Tom Woodworth, the Bravern project director. “You don’t need to be an extremely wealthy person to appreciate fashion, so we offer a mix of price points.”

Additional shops will be announced as the opening day approaches.

“The Bravern offers a more sophisticated shopping experience without too much exclusivity. We wanted to create something that fit the Northwest psyche which is more inconspicuous consumption,” Woodworth explained. “People like fine goods here, but they don’t necessarily want to brag about it.”

Originally, Ivanoff was pursuing a potential partnership with the city to build a large high-end hotel in conjunction with the expansion of the Meydenbauer Center, but the project fell through after the Port of Seattle voted to not provide funding for the project.

In 2004, Ivanoff worked with Woodworth and began the early planning stages of a new office building and retail space. Along with a team of architects from Callison, Ivanoff and Woodworth traveled to cities throughout the United States and Europe to draw on inspiration for redeveloping the north half of the Meydenbauer block.

During a feasibility trip to New York, Ivanoff and Woodworth were introduced to a representative of Neiman Marcus and a broker for Kate Spade at the time. Initially, the two major players in retail turned down the idea of opening their doors in the Northwest. Ivanoff and Woodworth remained optimistic and in 2005, the director of real-estate for Neiman Marcus arrived in Bellevue. Following an intense work session with designers from Callison, Ivanoff and Woodworth took a bold step and decided to completely re-work the site while it was under construction. The end result was an open-air space that embodies a pedestrian friendly, modern-day villa.

“It’s real easy to create monolithic bases that shut out the pedestrian, but it was important for us to really break down the scale of these blocks and create multiple points of pedestrian access into the site so it’s more integrated into the grid. Not turning it’s back on the grid,” said Woodworth in regards to the project’s overall design.

The Bravern has four entry points for convenient access and a 3,100-stall underground parking garage with three-hour free parking with validation. There will be café style WiFi utilized by a Sprint card or Verizon card and enhanced cellular service, preventing any dead spots or dropped calls even on the lowest level of the garage or in the elevators.

Two main arrival courts are welcoming vantage points, with curb-less entry and valet parking. The courts were designed to be pedestrian centric and intended to be a place where cars can coexist with people.

The expansive arrival courts are offset by narrow compressed pathways that are intimate and integrated with detail, lined by shops on either side.

According to Woodworth, many people assume that Seattle weather would have people shying away from the idea of an outdoor shopping center but that is not the case. He points to the University Village as a prime example.

“It’s an outdoor center and we initially had that concern about the weather,” explained Woodworth, adding, “But the distance is only 400 feet from one end to the other so it’s not like your walking from Nordstrom to JCPenny.

Although an outdoor shopping village, The Bravern will have a partial natural covering from the surrounding buildings.

“Those who grew up here are use to the weather and the rain. It just means you get to wear another layer of fashion,” joked Woodworth.

For more information on the Bravern www.thebravern.com.

Lindsay Larin can be reached at llarin@bellevuereporter.com or at 425-453-4602.

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