Tech Cities 1.0 Report Reveals "How real-estate investors see Seattle tech"
In an article published June 15th, Jon Talton of The Seattle Times discusses the Tech Cities 1.0 report, which ranked Seattle 6th among the 25 most elite technology hubs in the United States. The results of the report are important in a city such as Seattle, given that “real-estate investors and site selectors pay attention to analyses such as this” when making critical investment decisions.
As the report outlines, there were a number of key factors Tech Cities 1.0 considered when compiling the list including:
Whether the city in question has leading higher learning institutions and the population’s education level.
What the venture capital opportunities are.
The supply of tech workers in the region and their knowledge.
Whether there are systems in place that support entrepreneurship and startup companies.
For commercial real estate investors, it is important to look at the tech ecosystem of a potential city, looking at what companies are projected to garner sustained growth (as we have seen with companies such as Microsoft and Amazon) and the local economy. For Seattle, “the tech ecosystem has expanded even further as Bay Area firms have planted high-end offices here” from Airbnb’s recent expansion to 300 employees and Facebook doubling its Emerald City workforce in 2016.