Women in Real Estate 2019: NKF’s Erika Koehler Creates New, Improved Retail Destinations

NKF’s Erika Koehler, Senior Managing Director, is regarded as one of the most accomplished retail leasing professionals focused on urban retail and mixed-use developments in the greater Puget Sound area. She is part of an NKF Seattle-based team, along with sister Anne Marie, that bring more than 30 years of combined commercial real estate experience in retail real estate and a strong record of success representing both landlords and tenants.

Erika Koehler brings a strong record in landlord listing and tenant representation engagements throughout the Seattle region. She offers extensive background working with some of the nation’s largest REITs and shopping center developers.

These are just a few of the reasons we chose Koehler as one of the 2019 Women in Real Estate Award winners. Connect Media’s Women in Real Estate Awards honor the achievements and inspirational stories of women who have reached respected positions of leadership and play key mentorship roles for others.

The foundation of her extensive shopping center expertise encompasses an inherent understanding of the ownership viewpoint, as well as awareness of national retailer trends and requirements. By applying creativity and vision, Koehler helps create new and improved retail destinations. Investors and developers tap into Koehler’s expertise in repositioning and remerchandising older assets or ones that have traditional or no retail uses and new construction projects, transforming them into iconic buildings with dynamic, active retail offerings and experiences. Among the numerous examples are:
• Arranging the 15,000-square-foot lease for the first Starbucks Roastery in the world at 1124 Pike Street, a former car dealership building constructed in 1917 in Seattle’s vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood.
• Leading the repositioning of assets with dynamic retail activation at the ground level of several office projects, including the Hudson Pacific Properties King Street Crossing portfolio and Talon Private Capital’s 8th and Olive.
• Successfully leasing up the ground level of new construction projects with unique retail offerings, including Madison Development’s residential project Excelsior, Pembroke’s 400 Fairview and the Brooks Running headquarters building, Stone 34.
• Leading the transformation of a former gated office/warehouse building with no prior retail or restaurant use on Lake Union into a renowned regional destination-restaurant, Westward.
• Representation of James Beard award-winning chef Renee Erikson’s restaurant Wilmot’s Ghost and bar Deep Dive at Amazon’s world-renowned Spheres project.

The Koehlers have deep roots in retail in Seattle, and are regarded among the most well-known and hardest working retail professionals in the region. As daughters of prominent real estate developer Steve Koehler, the sibling duo was raised in the commercial real estate business. Erika Koehler is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Downtown Seattle Association.

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