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Seeking Proposals for Airport Dining and Retail Leases in New North Satellite

Seven opportunities are available in the new NSAT; $5,000 investment incentive available as part of new pilot program
June 18, 2019

Editor's Note: (July 1, 2019) The pre-proposal meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 is FULL. Please register for the Thursday, July 18 session only.

Editor's Note: (January 7, 2020) The Port of Seattle awarded seven lease opportunities scheduled to open in 2021 with the second phase of the North Satellite Modernization Project. These include a signature P.F. Chang’s restaurant in the dramatic new mezzanine level with iconic views of the airfield, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Sky Gamerz Seattle (a video gaming lounge), sodoPop (MoPop and Funko collaboration), Natalie’s Candy Jar, XpressSpa and Wendy’s. All seven include participation with small or women owned businesses.

The Port of Seattle today released the latest competitive bid opportunities for concessions at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. This proposed set of leasing opportunities, referred to as Lease Group 5 (LG5), are new construction as part of the North Satellite (NSAT) Modernization project.

The NSAT Modernization is the expansion and renovation of a 45-year-old facility to better serve passengers with more space and amenities for an enhanced travel experience. LG5 will help to more than double the previous dining and retail space in the N Gates, which will be completed prior to the renovated facility’s re-opening in mid-2021.

Pallino Pastaria, a new eatery in the Central Terminal at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, March 2019
Pallino Pastaria, an eatery in the newly redeveloped Central Terminal at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, March 2019

Available leasing opportunities

For the seven units in LG5, one will be competed via Request for Proposals (RFP) and six will be competed via the Competitive Evaluation Process (CEP).

There are three food and beverage opportunities, including:

  • Quick service restaurant featuring a nationally-recognized burger brand
  • Fast-casual eatery with no prerequisites for the restaurant’s concept
  • Quick service, fast casual, or casual dining experience and bar with no prerequisites for the restaurant’s concept

Additionally, LG5 has two specialty retail opportunities with open concepts and two passenger services units, to include massage, spa, or medical services, and a napping room, business center, or video gaming lounge.

Pre-proposal meetings information

Interested businesses are invited to two pre-proposal information meetings on July 9 and 18, 2019. Pre-registration is required for either of the pre-proposal meetings. Interested companies should register by emailing seatacshops@portseattle.org to receive a free link to the Lease Group 5 documents. Please include the company name, contact person, mailing address, phone number, and email address.

Tuesday, July 9, 2019
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Conference Center at Sea-Tac Airport 
Mezzanine Level, London Room
Seattle, WA 98168

OR

Thursday, July 18, 2019
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Sea-Tac Airport | Mezzanine Level | Central Auditorium
Seattle, WA 98168

Get directions to Sea-Tac Airport.
Based on space limitations, you may be asked to attend a session on a different date. Walk up registrations are not permitted the day of the events.

Reducing barriers to entry

The airport environment presents special challenges for business, which leads to higher costs for planning, building, and operating dining and retail spaces. This begins with the cost of preparing proposals for leasing opportunities.

As part of a newly authorized investment incentive pilot program, the Port of Seattle will compensate firms that submit proposals, but are not selected, to encourage smaller businesses to compete for opportunities. For ADR leasing opportunities that are procured through a Competitive Evaluation Process (CEP) process, the Port will provide a payment of $5,000 to each proposer who submits a fully responsive, responsible, and competitive proposal, but is not selected. Each individual proposing entity in LG5 would be eligible for one such payment.

The pilot program provides an incentive for businesses to participate by partially compensating them for the cost of developing and submitting concepts and proposals to compete in the ADR solicitations. It also serves the Port’s strong interest in creating robust competition for leasing opportunities through a greater number of applicants, providing a broad assortment of dining and retail opportunities to appeal to the traveling public, and increasing revenue.

Benefitting small, local, and minority businesses

Lease Group 5 is the final step in the implementation of the Airport Dining and Retail Master Plan. Sea-Tac Airport’s dining and retail redevelopment significantly expands business opportunities at the airport.

Just this year, Sea-Tac Airport opened 15 new dining options. Lucky Louie Fish Shack™, Evergreens Salad, Pallino Pastaria, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, and Koi Shi Sushi Bento are new quick-service eateries in the Central Terminal. Other fresh additions include Caffe D’arte, Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen and Skillet that are serving up espresso, Vietnamese cuisine, and gourmet comfort foods in the N Gates, plus Le Grand Comptior on Concourse C, offering hand-picked Pacific Northwest wines and sit-down bistro-inspired foods. Also, later this year Concourse D will see the opening of Ballard Brew Hall and Poke to the Max.

The Port set ambitious economic development goals to increase overall employment through dining and retail; increase revenue to the Port, which goes directly back into airport operations; and increase the gross sales of small, local, disadvantaged and certified Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (ACDBE). ACDBE is a federal program designed to level the playing field for socially and economically disadvantaged firms competing for airport dining and retail business.

The Port’s emphasis on equity in its competitive process is changing the equation for women and minority-owned business while expanding dining, shopping, and personal service options for passengers. By 2021 when all of the new renovations will be complete, gross sales generated by ACDBE firms will reach approximately 22.7 percent compared to 21.4 percent in 2016. In addition, the number of locations operated in whole or in part by ACDBE’s will increase from 43 (56 percent) in 2016 to 65 (68 percent) in 2021.

Stay tuned to dining and retail redevelopment news at Sea-Tac Airport.

Contact

Kate Hudson | Sea-Tac Airport
(206) 787-4362 | hudson.k@portseattle.org

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