When Kemper Freeman, Jr., talks about investment opportunities, people listen.

And when the real estate giant, whose retail developments have virtually established downtown Bellevue, tells an assembled group of Federal Way's most powerful businessmen and women that outside investors view their city as one of the "best undiscovered opportunities in the region," his words give legitimacy to the city council's city center redevelopment campaign.

A man with that many zeros in his paycheck (and the deeds to more square feet of retail space than anyone could shop in a day) must know a good investment when he sees one.

"The economic health of a city is determined by the size and strength of its economic core," Freeman said.

His words mimic the philosophy espoused by the city council since 1995, when it laid out its preliminary plan to redevelop Federal Way's city center and establish a downtown economic core.

The city and the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce held a breakfast presentation last Wednesday at Twin Lakes country club to rally support-once again-for the slew of new development and refurbishing projects they hope to bring to the city center's 414 acres.

Freeman told the group that retail drives the area's real estate, and that real estate solidifies a city's long-term vitality. The advice comes from a man whose family "overbid" on some Bellevue property for 10 cents/square foot, only to entertain offers on that same real estate fewer than 40 years later for $500/square foot.

He said the city currently holds about 2.7 million square feet of retail in its city center, which gives Federal Way an exceptionally strong base on which to carry out its dreams of building a thriving economic core.

But Freeman's message to the city and chamber focused on the significant impact a strong retail center will have on all businesses in Federal Way. He referred to this theory as the catalytic effect of retail, which states that a burgeoning retail epicenter benefits all business within that region, even those which compete against each other.

Freeman corroborated his story by giving the examples of downtown San Diego and the Baltimore waterfront, both of which resuscitated nearly deceased economic centers by reestablishing a core of retail space. The collective economic strength of the adjacent properties, along with a strong matching investment from those municipalities, helped bring about a flood of growth.

"Think about the major cities in this country (and ask) what do they all have in common?" Freeman posed to the audience of around 100. "They all have a successful retail core."

"Federal Way is the regional center between Seattle and Tacoma," he said. "You have all of the tools right in front of you."

Federal Way Economic Development Director Patrick Doherty has played a key role in helping the city put forth those tools for the use of potential downtown developers.

His presentation heralded the steps the council has taken in sowing the city center for a boom of retail and mixed-use structures it hopes will grow in Federal Way's core.

He pointed to the city's $56 million, 1,200-slot parking garage at the Federal Way Transit Center, a relaxation in building regulations downtown and a 10-year property tax exemption for developers who bring mixed residential and retail structures to the city center.

Doherty said the latter benefit could garner as much in $100,000 in tax savings for developers.

The city has also coughed up more than $40 million in street and storm drainage improvements in the area. Last fall, the city council approved a city center redevelopment fund that would support public-private development collaborations downtown, and passed a government resolution stating their intent to do so.

The council opened the account with $5 million, an allotment mostly generated from sales tax revenue and property taxes.

Anne Ricker, an economic development consultant from the Leland Group hired by the city to help realize its downtown revitalization plan, said the city's objectives must include regulations that steer the types of development they desire to the area.

"You have to make sure you put the regulations in place that attract the right types of development and block the wrong development," Ricker said.

"Developers will not do it," she stressed, "unless you make it appealing for them."

Doherty and the council hope to put Ricker's suggestion into action by bringing a few high-rise commercial buildings to Federal Way. The city has relaxed some legislation that helps make those structures possible, namely opening up the maximum height of a downtown building to include new structures in the 10-20 story range. Conversely, new regulations from the council have all but shut down any new single story retail space in the city center.

Doherty said he considers the view from up top a real selling point from bringing taller buildings to Federal Way.

"From three-to-five stories up," Doherty said, "we have views of the Olympics and Puget Sound, as well as Mount Rainier."

Doherty said the city center has more than 225,000 square feet of office space, 650 hotel rooms and 890 multifamily residential units, with what he called "ample investment opportunities" available for developers downtown.

He relayed his optimism for the city's plan in a pitch to the potential developers in the audience.

"We'll work with you to help you achieve what you want," Doherty said. "We're in an aggressive pursuit of redevelopment opportunities."

"Right now there are two big parcels (adjacent to the Federal Way Transit Center) for transit-oriented investment," Doherty said.

But just like Ricker said after some of her company's initial findings last summer, she restated that Federal Way continues to struggle with its perception, from the outside and within. The city has an inferiority complex, she said, that has made it difficult to move aggressively towards its economic goals.

Her recommendation? Get over it and get on with it. The city may not have the resources to strive forward with its lifestyle-center plan in the near-term, but there are profitable investments available in Federal Way right now, she said.

"The time is ripe," Ricker said. "We have to create the environment for the kind of development we want in Federal Way."

"We need to replace some of that asphalt with viable entities," she said.