WHO is the happy Warrior? Who is he
What every man in arms should wish to be?
—It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought:
Whose high endeavours are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright:
Who, with a natural instinct to discern
What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn,
Abides by this resolve, and stops not there,
But makes his moral being his prime care.

The words are from Wordsworth’s poem The Happy Warrior, a poem that describes a life many of us would want to emulate. The thought is for someone the poem could have been written about, Jim Potter. Jim died on Tuesday, May 6 after the very rapid onset of cancer.

I came to know Jim because of our work on microhousing. His booming voice over the phone, his imposing presence, and his sense for the numbers and basics of the business were inspiring to me. Jim was always confident that if Councilmembers or others in government simply understood the facts, they’d eventually come around. He was confident in his cause and the cause of building the city.

Contrary to what many think, developers don’t usually gather together and plot and strategize. But it was Jim’s leadership that convened the first gathering of microhousing developers to start thinking through how to preserve microhousing from the sustained attack from its opponents in and out of City Hall. Jim that encouraged me to pursue Smart Growth Seattle full time. And it was Jim that inspired the confidence among others to invest the resources to get me started as full time director this year.

It was just before our kickoff presentation to the Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s Community Development Round Table (CDRT) that I first heard Jim was sick. He wasn’t going to be able to make it to the lunch meeting because he wasn’t feeling well. That seemed odd to me at the time. He must have a really bad case of the flu, because Jim wasn’t the kind of guy to not show up to something so important that he set up. Later, as the weeks went by, we discovered how seriously ill Jim was.

And yet my phone would still ring and Jim would be on the line to talk about what we should do next or how we could gather more support for the cause. Jim would get annoyed and agitated at where the discussion on land use and housing was going in the city, but he was never cynical; he was always looking for a way to solve the problem. I know that his thoughts until the end were about his family and his work and those of us out here doing our share the work everyday.

Jim is a big part of the reason that I am here doing this job. He was an inspiration. He encouraged me to take a chance on something new by pointing out that I’ve got what it takes to handle any of the downsides. I started thinking bigger and making different plans for my work because he said I could. He was an enabler of taking risks on good things. And I am not alone; there are many people out there who Jim guided, mentored, and encouraged. His voice will continue to be the one we hear in our heads when things get tough, or something goes wrong; don’t give up, you’ll find a way to make it work.

The final words of the poem could be Jim’s epitaph:

Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;
And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven’s applause:
This is the happy Warrior; this is he
Whom every Man in arms should wish to be.

 

James B. Potter

September 23, 1955 – May 6, 2014

James B. “Jim” Potter, Seattle area real estate developer, passed away on May 6, 2014 in the loving presence of his family and close friends after a graceful and thankfully short battle with cancer.

A Seattle native Jim, attended Te Aroha College in New Zealand (1972-73), then graduated from Nathan Hale (1974) and the University of Washington (1978). He completed a BA in business administration with a concentration on finance and urban development.  Jim married Rebecca Ann Potter in 1980 and is survived by her, their three grown children: Wesley, Jayred and Lisa-Baylee, his mother and father (Bill and Joan Potter) brother Doug (Karen) sister Jill, plus an aunt, cousins, nieces and nephews. Jim’s family resides in Snohomish, Washington.

Throughout his life Jim demonstrated both remarkable business acumen and a commitment to family that resulted in career success and work life balance. Many looked up to Jim, emulated his personal drive as well as his clarity of priorities. He always put his family first, frequently taking them on adventures from scouting camping trips to a year spent in South America. “Jim began his housing career early, in our back yard with a three-story tree house in one tree and a 20-foot bridge to another tree house in another tree,” said his sister Jill. He was about 12 years old at the time.

Jim started his career as a sales agent in residential and commercial real estate sales in 1974 with a concentration on multi-family land and buildings.  In 1984, he established a real estate development company of multi-family properties and as the business grew, in 1987 he founded and was chairman of Kauri Investments, Ltd. “As anyone who knew Jim knows, he was a planner and forward thinker,” said Kent Angier, president and CEO of Kauri Investments, Ltd.  “After being diagnosed he spent his last three months as he lived – divided between his family and friends and putting his affairs in order so that his businesses could live long beyond him. Jim was larger than life in so many ways and has been both an inspiration and mentor to me and more people than I can count in both how he lived as a family man and how he did business.”

Jim had many areas of expertise that include:  the Growth Management Act, City of Seattle Zoning Code, investment strategies, permit processing, multi-family construction, building rehabilitation and property management.

His family operating company, La Serena Holdings, is an asset management company involved in more than 50 real estate projects from Olympia to Burlington, Washington.  La Serena also manages several operating companies, including Lynnwood Bowl and Skate and the Seattle Hostel at the American Hotel. Jim also founded Footprint Investments LLC as the brand for micro-housing that he has been developing for the past several years in the greater Seattle area and now is expanding in Portland, Oregon and Oakland, California. In 2013 he hired Cathy Reines as the Footprint CEO. Jim often said of micro-housing, “I feel like all my 40 years is real estate have led to micro-housing, to be able to change the way for people to live in cities.”  “Jim gave us the foundation to fulfill his vision to drive micro-housing globally,” said Reines.

“Jim was one of the most creative real estate developers that I’ve ever had the privilege of working with,” said Dan Piantanida, vice president of G.P. Realty Finance. “He always had the ability to find niches that were not being served by traditional real estate developers.  It was that instinct that was one of the main factors leading to the birth of micro- housing. He was a dear friend and mentor, and I miss him tremendously.”

Erin Scannell, business associate and close friend said, “I was attracted to Jim because of his desire to have a positive impact on people’s lives. For example, his love for travel as a means to experience going out of your comfort zone to see how other people live and bringing them into his life as well. I cannot count the number of times Jim would meet someone new at a meeting, on a plane trip, on a chamber mission or some other trip and next thing you knew he would be telling Rebecca he had invited them to dinner, or to stay at their home during their visit to Seattle.  Jim was also interested to know peoples’ life “stories”.  Even in the hospital, he would ask all the caregivers their names, where they were from, to talk about their families.”

In business he didn’t do the same successful thing over and over. He would see things that no one else saw and with that created many successful businesses. When I would ask him why he did so many different things he always said ‘I’m having fun with it.’”

His community involvement included the Boards of WellSpring Family Services of King County and America for 15 years, Master Builders of King and Snohomish County; including as its President in 2006, Boy Scouts of America, Seattle Rotary, Associates in Cultural Exchange (ACE), Seattle Academies Foundation, the board of directors of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber, Washington State Affordable Housing Advisory Board, ACE, the Burke Museum and variety of other civic engagements. Jim was a long-term Seattle Rotarian and served as co-chair of the Sustainability Committee.

A memorial will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations will be appreciated to Boy Scouts of America (http://www.seattlebsa.org/), WellSpring Family Services (http://wellspringfs.org/), Nature Bridge (http://www.naturebridge.org/),  or Associates in Cultural Exchange (http://www.cultural.org/).