HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 48 - 08-14-2020 - Hearing Exhibit - KC 04 - Declaration of Bryan HagueITEM NO. 48
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BEFORE THE CITY OF RENTON
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
In re the matter of the Appeal'by
Renton Hotel Investors, LLC,
Downtown Emergency Services Center,
King County
Appellants
Case No. CODE20-000321
DECLARATION OF BRYAN HAGUE
Bryan Hague declares as follows:
1. I am competent to testify and have personal knowledge of the matters herein.
2. I have worked in real estate for 22 years, including stints as a commercial real
estate broker, developer and investor.
3. I currently serve as King County's Real Estate Services Manager, in the Facilities
and Management Division, where I have worked for the last 5 years.
4. I oversee a staff of 26 responsible for all aspects of King County's real estate
portfolio, currently valued at over $1,500,000,000.
DECLARATION OF BRYAN HAGUE - 1
Daniel T. Satterberg, Prosecuting Attorney
CIVIL DIVISION
W400 King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
206) 477-1120/FAX (206) 296-0191
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5. We are responsible for all of King County's property sales and acquisitions,
leased properties both as tenant and landlord, tax title properties, and all other property rights,
including easements, permits and rights of way, and utility franchises.
6. In late February, as COVID-19 began spreading in King County, we in Real
Estate Services began an extremely intensive search for hotels and motels to use temporarily to
halt the spread of this disease.
7. We began looking for hotels and motels to lease for isolation and quarantine of
those infected with or exposed to COVID-19 and expanded our search in March to include hotels
and motels for shelter-deintensification.
8. Out health department, Public Health — Seattle & King County, is responsible for
the health of the entire county.
9. We hoped to find hotels and motels located throughout the county, not too far
away from Seattle where the health department is located, and not overly concentrated in any
particular area.
10. The county could not afford to rent highly expensive, upscale hotels, like large
Hilton Hotels and smaller boutique hotels, which were well beyond our reach. (For upscale
hotels it also made no financial sense to rent to us because of the low amounts we could offer to
pay.)
11. Seven of my staff, primarily leasing specialists, lead our search for hotels and
motels throughout King County to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic.
12. All of our leasing staff previously, and some recently, worked as brokers, and
have contacts at large real estate firms.
Y DECLARATION OF BRYAN HAGUE - 2
Daniel T. Satterberg, Prosecuting Attorney
CIVIL DIVISION
W400 King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
206) 477-1120/FAX (206) 296-0191HEX-000616
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13. My staff contacted their broker contacts and enlisted their help searching for
available hotels and motels.
14. In March, we also contracted with CBRE Hotels to find hotels available for lease
for controlling the spread of COVID-19.
15. My staff and I worked 7 days a week through March and April and contacted well
over 70 local hotels and motels.
16. Through our efforts, we developed a large base of knowledge of hotel and motel
availability generally.
17. We learned about hotels' rates and how much of a discount the owners might be
willing to give for renting large numbers of rooms.
18. In general, we found that there were few hotels and motels available in King
County.
19. The owners of most of the available hotels and motels were entirely disinterested
in leasing and hoped to sell their properties.
20. Of the small number of owners willing to lease, very few were willing to rent to
sick people, and even fewer to the homeless.
21. We repeatedly found that hotel owners were happy to speak with us, until we
brought up the homeless people, we hoped to find housing for.
22. A single group which collectively owns some 1000 rooms, for example, was
interested in renting to us, until we brought up the shelter residents we hoped to protect from
COVID-19.
DECLARATION OF BRYAN HAGUE - 3
Daniel T. Satterberg, Prosecuting Attorney
CIVIL DIVISION
W400 King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
206) 477-1120/FAX (206) 296-0191
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23. We found owners much more enthusiastic about renting rooms for medical
professionals at risk for developing COVID-19 than for the homeless. (We rented a hotel in
Bellevue for that purpose.)
24. A few owners later changed their minds about renting for the homeless but even
so, we had few hotels and motels available.
25. To de -intensify the DESC Main Shelter, a top priority for the health department,
we needed a large hotel, able to safely house over 200 residents at a single location so that
service providers did not have to travel to and from multiple scattered locations. We also hoped
to find a location that is not too far away from Seattle, the location of many of the DESC's
service providers.
26. Many moderately priced hotels outside of Seattle and Bellevue have only 100
rooms at most, such as Hampton Inns, Super 8, Comfort Inns, and Fairfield's Hotels. Hotels
larger than 100 rooms are less common, and many of those are upscale, like Hilton Hotels and
Sheraton Hotels.
27. The owners of the Renton Red Lion stood out. Uniquely, they were willing to
rent for housing the homeless, and their property has 250 individual rooms.
28. The Owners of the Red Lion had a vision to use their hotel to help protect folks
from the epidemic and understood how involved the county and DESC would be supporting the
I residents.
29. In addition to the Bellevue hotel for medical professionals, we leased properties
in Kent and Issaquah for isolation and quarantine, plus two in Seattle, one in Sea-Tac and the
Renton Red Lion for shelter de -intensification.
DECLARATION OF BRYAN HAGUE - 4
Daniel T. Satterberg, Prosecuting Attorney
CIVIL DIVISION
W400 King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
206) 477-1120/FAX (206) 296-0191
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30. At the Red Lion, we have made significant and costly improvements, including
fencing, improved rooms, and are also providing security and other support services.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the
foregoing is true and correct.
Respectfully submitted this 5th day of August at Seattle, WA.
13rya e CD
DECLARATION OF BRYAN HAGUE - 5
Daniel T. Satterberg, Prosecuting Attorney
CIVIL DIVISION
W400 King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
206) 477-1120/FAX (206) 296-0191
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