By Steve Shay

It has been a long and winding, and sometimes rocky, road for the always-eager "Team Tracey & Stacy" of Matrix Real Estate who were for years the first folks you'd probably see when viewing the 124-unit Burien Town Square condominiums as they greeted you with matching smiles in their ground floor loft sales office.

Stacy Phipps, a Burien resident, and Tracey O'Brien of Auburn were rotated out of that office, Phipps last November, O'Brien last month. Since the pre-sale phase from their storefront office across the street in July, 2007, the dynamic duo has sold 50 units, half of those since last September. They are still involved in the closings of those pending units sold while they were still there.

And they still work for Matrix, now selling new single family homes by Lennar Corporation, one of America's top four home builders, with communities in 18 states, including some 29 communities in the Seattle and Vancouver, WA. areas.

O'Brien works onsite with pre-sale single family homes for Lennar's Tehaleh community in Bonney Lake, which she said will eventually have 6,000 new homes. Phipps is stationed at Matrix in downtown Seattle, and is Lennar Internet New Home Consultant and Social Media Coordinator. She said she is also "a regular real estate agent" marketing to the Burien, West Seattle area.

O'Brien and Phipps leave Burien Town Square, but said the building has not left them, and wanted this chance to thank the Burien community and to convey the message that Town Square residents have become their friends.

"I love the Burien community," said O'Brien. "I totally entrenched myself there. After work I would go to the restaurants, to my favorite little wine bar, Vino Bello (636 SW 152nd St.) I'd meet friends there, even on my days off. It's a small town feel. The shopkeepers are the owners. There is a warm and welcoming feeling that you don't get somewhere else, or when shopping at a franchise. I've gotten to know them, their families.

"The homeowners who have moved in are more than just homeowners.," she added. "They have become my friends. These will be lifelong relationships. Every month there was something fun and special going on that we were involved with, the Farmers Market, Pie Joist, Strawberry Market. We dressed up for the (Halloween event) Boo in Burien, and we cheered on the runners at the finish line at the Cove to Clover race. I was proud to be at our office, and happy to answer questions. I felt that I had the right information, and the responsibility to correct the gossip."

Two false rumors she and Phipps often had to set straight were, one, some thought the building was vacant long after the bank take-over, and didn't understand they began selling again. Two, there was the controversy that the complex was going to become apartments. She said those rumors were big hurdles she and Stacy had to overcome.

Said O'Brien, "Even though I'm not there anymore I still think it's an amazing building and I look forward to the day when it's sold out."

"Since I still live in Burien since in 2005 I still plan to meet friends at Vina Bello," said Phipps. (O'Brien plans to continue visiting, too.)

Added Phipps, "I loved my job at Burien Town Square, my time spent there. And living and working in the same city is a great thing. I definitely made friends in the building I will have for a very long time.

"We wish the new sales people the best of luck," she said, adding that the real estate market in Burien has picked up a head of steam over the last six months. "After all these years when there were so many questions about what was going to happen to the building, I am very happy to see it heading in the direction it is headed now."

Stacy Phipps can be reached at (206) 850-7588. Tracey O'Brien can be reached by visiting www.lennar.com and clicking "Seattle" and scrolling to "Tehelah" and clicking in, or calling (253) 590-0984.