Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest

Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest (PRCN) owns and manages three continuing care retirement communities in the Seattle area.

• SITUATION
• PRCN had the opportunity to construct a new 450,000-square-foot continuing care retirement community in the First Hill neighborhood through a unique land swap deal with its well-known neighbors, St. James Cathedral and Trinity Church.


• The proposed project was significant in size and scope for the evolving First Hill neighborhood, and it was unknown how it would be received by the neighborhood, area businesses and the city. The project was also dependent on the use of a "landmark height-bonus", which had never been utilized by a project in Seattle.


• PRCN is not a developer by trade and the company's Board of Directors, which manages the project's financing, closely reviewed every step of the project.

• SOLUTION
• The Fearey Group developed a public affairs and communications program to ensure that PRCN's project would stay on time and on budget. We developed a plan that included key messages and overall positioning, media relations, entitlement strategies for City Council, the Department of Planning and Design Review Board and community outreach.

• RESULTS
• Strategic political outreach to City Council, the Department of Planning and Development and Design Review Board has kept the project on time for receiving its Mixed Use Permit and garnered strong support from the city for the use of the height bonus.


• Support for the project was widespread in the neighborhood and as a result the project was seen as a catalyst for future neighborhood investment.


• Through careful positioning, announcement of the PRCN project garnered positive media coverage and the size and scope of the project was not questioned.