MAKING COMPLICATED

Long Family Tradition

A third-generation Seattle native, Chris continues a long family tradition of deep passion for this extraordinary region, from its entrepreneurial spirit to its natural beauty. Chris learned his work ethic at the knee of his grandfather, Michael Dederer—one of 20th century Seattle’s most beloved businessmen. Chris gives back to the community he loves by working closely with not-for-profit organizations including YMCA Camping Services, the Pacific Northwest United Methodist Camping Board of Stewards, and Eastside Baby Corner.

A History of Building Success

In more than 30 years working across construction, facilities management, and IT, Chris Dederer saw a lot of small businesses get lost in the tenant improvement process. Without a dedicated, experienced project manager, they wasted money and time and failed to get the results they wanted. He founded Squak Creek to help these companies achieve results beyond what they thought possible. Contact us at or to find out how we can help your business succeed.

A Smarter Approach to Tenant Improvement

No matter what the size of your tenant improvement allowance, Squak Creek will help you make the most of it with comprehensive services including project planning advisory services, construction management and move management services.

Construction Management for Tenant Improvements

From the first vision to the last punch list, Squak Creek manages every aspect of tenant improvement construction. Our experience with typical office improvements, light medical, and unique industrial work gives us the breadth of knowledge to manage your project.  Learn how we can help you get more out of every dollar.

Tenant Improvement Construction Management

Your tenant improvement allowance isn’t free money—it’s an investment in the future of your business. The right improvements to your space can boost productivity, make a statement about your brand, and improve customer satisfaction.

Construction Management for Your Home

We want to be your advocate! So many homeowners do not know where to begin when it’s time to remodel the build. We are here to advise you through the process or manage the entire project. Selecting the right architect and builder can be a daunting process. Protecting your rights and your investment with a contract and insurance is many times overlooked. We will help you through the details to ensure your project is done properly.

Move Management

Squak Creek can plan and manage your move from end to end, including special equipment moves. Let us make your move effortless.

Moving Made Easy—and Fast

Whether you’re growing fast or just right-sizing, moving your business into a new space can be exciting—as long as you don’t count the actual moving part. Squak Creek makes it easy with end-to-end move management services. We plan and manage every aspect of the process to get it done quickly and cost-effectively—with minimum disruption to your business. We are also experts in moving IT infrastructure and specialty equipment such as medical devices. Contact us to learn more about our move management services.

Healthcare – Construction Planning & Management

Client:
Eye Associates Northwest, P.C. is one of the leading opthalmology practices in the northwest, with 14 physicians providing services in a network of clinics including two surgery centers.

Business situation:
The company needed to relocate a clinic from an aging building into a new, state-of-the-art facility. The inclusion of a surgery center meant dealing with highly complex design challenges and compliance requirements.

Challenges: 

• Meet the construction and compliance issues associated with building a fully compliant, best-in-class surgery center. 
• Develop a successful mixed-use footprint including the surgery center, 12 exam lanes to serve more than 200 clients daily, and a retail optical operation—all in 8,000 square feet.
• Work within strict parameters provided by the manager of the high-end property. 

How Squak Creek helped:

• Facilitated the collaborative process between the client, the property manager, and the architects, builders, and specialty consultants required to meet compliance requirements.
• Managed the entire general contractor selection process from pre-bid requirements to walkthroughs to contractor selection. 
• Developed a list of key contractor requirements for approval of property management, enabling Eye Associates to have more influence in the selection of contractors. 
• Navigated changing Department of Health requirements that increased the size of the surgery center from 40% of the space to 60%–after design and general contractor selection had been completed—while still meeting overall project goals. This required renegotiating pricing to the satisfaction of the client and the general contractor and working with architect to perform redesign.
• Worked with general contractor to ensure the project would be finished by the original target date despite the project changes, at no additional cost.
• Coordinated three specialist moving companies to ensure that sensitive medical and other equipment was moved safely and on time.
• Facilitated a cost-effective IT infrastructure upgrade including a new phone system and new servers. 
• Helped the client make a strong brand statement with the new facility, ensuring that new and regular customers would associate their positive experience with Eye Associates.

Eye Clinic & Retail Optical

Business Challenges:

• Before Squak Creek was hired, the project was hampered by a lack of communication among the stakeholders and service providers involved and was three months behind schedule.
• The property manager’s construction management group was not able to provide the personalized attention Eye Associates needed to have a successful outcome. 
• A complex build-out required custom casework and unique solutions to challenges with building systems.

How Squak Creek helped:

• Engaged the architect with the right stakeholders to move the project forward. 
• Advocated for the client to ensure the general contractor met their needs, including street visibility of the retail optical operation.
• Identified discrpancies in general contractor bids and provided clarifications that enabled a more effective bidding process.
• Drove the creation of best-in-class solutions to challenging constraints such as moving existing HVAC work to accomdate retail optical displays and installing above-grade plumbing systems. 
• Brought the project to completion within a month of the original estimate despite starting three months late, saving the client 90 days of secondary rent.

Client:

Eye Associates Northwest, P.C. is one of the leading opthalmology practices in the northwest, with 14 physicians providing services in a network of clinics including two surgery centers.

Business situation:

The company needed to relocate a clinic from an aging building into a new, state-of-the-art facility. The inclusion of a surgery center meant dealing with highly complex design challenges and compliance requirements.

Challenges: 

• Meet the construction and compliance issues associated with building a fully compliant, best-in-class surgery center. 
• Develop a successful mixed-use footprint including the surgery center, 12 exam lanes to serve more than 200 clients daily, and a retail optical operation—all in 8,000 square feet.
• Work within strict parameters provided by the manager of the high-end property. 

How Squak Creek helped:

• Facilitated the collaborative process between the client, the property manager, and the architects, builders, and specialty consultants required to meet compliance requirements.
• Managed the entire general contractor selection process from pre-bid requirements to walkthroughs to contractor selection. 
• Developed a list of key contractor requirements for approval of property management, enabling Eye Associates to have more influence in the selection of contractors. 
• Navigated changing Department of Health requirements that increased the size of the surgery center from 40% of the space to 60%–after design and general contractor selection had been completed—while still meeting overall project goals. This required renegotiating pricing to the satisfaction of the client and the general contractor and working with architect to perform redesign.
• Worked with general contractor to ensure the project would be finished by the original target date despite the project changes, at no additional cost.
• Coordinated three specialist moving companies to ensure that sensitive medical and other equipment was moved safely and on time.
• Facilitated a cost-effective IT infrastructure upgrade including a new phone system and new servers. 
• Helped the client make a strong brand statement with the new facility, ensuring that new and regular customers would associate their positive experience with Eye Associates.

Client:

Eye Associates Northwest, P.C. is one of the leading opthalmology practices in the northwest, with 14 physicians providing services in a network of clinics including two surgery centers.

Business Situation: 

Eye Associates was opening its first new clinic in 10 years. Already facing the day-to-day challenges of running a busy ophthalmology practice, they needed an experienced construction manager to help them turn the tenant improvement process to their advantage.

Business Challenges:

• Before Squak Creek was hired, the project was hampered by a lack of communication among the stakeholders and service providers involved and was three months behind schedule.
• The property manager’s construction management group was not able to provide the personalized attention Eye Associates needed to have a successful outcome. 
• A complex build-out required custom casework and unique solutions to challenges with building systems.

How Squak Creek helped:

• Engaged the architect with the right stakeholders to move the project forward. 
• Advocated for the client to ensure the general contractor met their needs, including street visibility of the retail optical operation.
• Identified discrpancies in general contractor bids and provided clarifications that enabled a more effective bidding process.
• Drove the creation of best-in-class solutions to challenging constraints such as moving existing HVAC work to accomdate retail optical displays and installing above-grade plumbing systems. 
• Brought the project to completion within a month of the original estimate despite starting three months late, saving the client 90 days of secondary rent.