SEATTLE – In Seattle’s competitive real-estate market, a new business is offering a unique approach. Funkylofts, a company founded in 2007 under the umbrella of Ewing & Clark, the city’s oldest real-estate brokerage, is the first Seattle-based company to specialize in new and converted loft-like living spaces.
Gina Marie Clemen, Funkylofts’ founder and principal agent, moved from San Francisco to Seattle last year because she said she saw huge potential and demand for urban lofts and luxury condominiums.
“My client base is predominately couples with pets or single young professionals, often architects or designers, who understand well-defined space,” says Clemen, a Pioneer Square loft resident herself. “When I moved to Seattle, I saw an opportunity for niche marketing that was untapped.”
Clemen has a background in design, giving her an edge that helps her match clients with a harmonious living space that fits their personal style. Her long-term goals for Funkylofts consist of a combination loft furniture showroom and brokerage. “I like to help my clients with the inside feel as well as the actual location,” Clemen says.
In December 2007, Clemen launched her company’s Web site, http://www.funkylofts.com, and blog to kick start her business. The site allows viewers to register with Funkylofts to receive requested property information, and it also allows interested buyers and sellers to receive answers to real-estate questions. The site also provides access for buyers to begin their own home search for downtown lofts and condominiums. Clemen regularly updates the blog with valuable market information, new loft spaces for sale, Funkylofts event coverage, great kitchen designers or furniture-builder recommendations, and any other “funky” news that enhances urban living.
“My hope is that I can provide all the information one may need when considering a move to Seattle’s burgeoning urban scene,” Clemen says. “Eventually, I’d like to expand to other cities like Portland and Vancouver.”
“Gina [Marie Clemen] is very knowledgeable and passionate about downtown lofts and luxury condominiums, and I am pleased to see her new company working closely with ours,” said John Brian Losh, chairman and CEO of Ewing & Clark, Inc., and CEO and publisher of LuxuryRealEstate.com, an international network of top luxury brokers. “She has brought many excellent ideas to our company and our city. I expect great things to happen with her Funkylofts venture.”
