CREW CONVENTION— Building Austin While Leading the Tour
Women of WORKBENCH
Why CREW Convention Chose Us to Represent Austin
CREW Network’s 2025 Convention brings over 1,400 commercial real estate leaders to Austin for dealmaking, education, and networking. When the organizers asked: Who should lead the tours and show what makes our city special? — they landed on three women who are not just participants, but equity partners and developers in the work that shapes Austin’s future.
That means Jennifer Seay, Shawna Sieck, and DeLea Becker won’t be on the sidelines — they’re center stage.
I (DeLea Becker) will lead two sold-out architecture & skyline boat tours on Lady Bird Lake — giving attendees a water-level run through the growth, design, and momentum of Austin’s commercial real estate.
Jennifer and Shawna will lead the WORKBENCH East Austin Tour — where you’ll walk the mass timber project, uncover sustainable systems, and understand how women built this from the ground up.
It’s not about giving a tour. It’s about telling a story — the story of women who own, build, and lead.
TOUR
What Makes the WORKBENCH Tour Unmissable
The WORKBENCH East Austin Tour is not your average development walk. Here’s what attendees will see, learn and take away:
The 50,000 SF mass timber structure — an example of modern sustainable construction
Systems and design elements that store ~500 metric tons of CO₂ (equivalent to removing ~301 cars from the road annually)
A model of cooperative ownership — 3 of 6 equity partners are women (+ CREW MEMBERS), all operational founders
The future use: owner-occupied firms headquartered there, deep community integration, and a hub for creative/C‑RE synergy
There are only 48 spots, and as of now 21 remain. That scarcity is intentional — an exclusive look into one of Austin’s boldest CRE experiments.
Tour info:
Wednesday, Oct 8, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM CDT
Fee: $149
Meet in the hotel lobby, walking distance with PPE and shoes required
If you want to be among CREW members seeing the future in East Austin firsthand — this is your chance.
TOUR
The Boat Tours — Skyline, Strategy, and Stories on Water
The boat tours are sold out — and for good reason.
DELEA BECKER AND LINKED GLENN ——- WILL ENTERTAIN + EDUCATE
Over 10 million square feet of Austin’s commercial real estate will be visible from the boat route
The architecture cruise is both beautiful and instructive: you’ll learn about landmark buildings, adaptive reuse, density strategies, and how Austin grapples with growth
You’ll get to see how the lake, the city grid, and building patterns intersect — a live case study
Both tours (Wednesday and Friday) are full — but if you’re on the waiting list, stay tuned. These were built to be experiential classrooms on water.
COMING SOON - AN INTERACTIVE MAP AND DETAILS OF EACH PROJECT WILL BE ADDED TO OUR WEBSITE
Why This Matters — Women Owning CRE, Not Just Showing Up
We did the math: 3% of commercial real estate is owned and managed by women. Yet here we are — three founders who:
Invested capital
Designed partnerships
Placed their own companies as tenants
Educate the industry at scale
We didn’t stumble into this role. We built it — literally and figuratively.
Because when CREW calls to show off a city, we won’t just be your guides. We’ll be your proof.
We’re not here to ask for permission. We’re here to claim space.
Links & Press — What the Media Says
Local women entrepreneurs launch new East Austin development (KXAN / Yahoo Finance) — a good primer on the three women behind WORKBENCH.
→ Read the story“Female Executives Across Texas Recognize Evolving Roles in Commercial Real Estate” — contextual work that shows the environment we’re operating in. (REBusinessOnline)
What You Should Do (Next Steps)
Sign up (if there’s still space) for the East Austin WORKBENCH Tour — this is your chance to see inside a women-founded CRE lead-in.
Watch for updates/posts during Convention — we’ll share behind-the-scenes, photos, quotes, and breakout lessons.
Engage with us — comment, ask questions, tag your CRE network. We’re here to hold up a mirror to what women can build in this industry.
Let’s make this year’s CREW Convention not just a gathering — but a turning point.
KXAN NEWS - East AuSTIN WOMEN LAUNCH DEVELOPMENT
Local women entrepreneurs launch new east Austin development
by: Sarah Al-Shaikh
Posted: Oct 14, 2024 / 08:22 PM CDT
Updated: Oct 14, 2024 / 10:32 PM CDT
AUSTIN (KXAN) — There’s a new office development under construction in east Austin, and three women entrepreneurs are behind the initiative. The corner of East Seventh Street and Pedernales Street will be the future home to WORKBENCH. It will be a four-story office retail and restaurant development.
Jennifer Seay, Shawna Sieck and DeLea Becker are leading the charge in highlighting the unique female impact behind WORKBENCH, a new four-story office, retail, and restaurant development at the corner of East Seventh Street and Pedernales Street in East Austin. Each of them own businesses in Austin. 66% of the equity partners are women in this project.
Seay founded Art + Artisans, an art consulting firm that focuses on curating artwork for real estate developers. Sieck owns Legacy Lighting, a lighting manufacturer representative firm. Becker has 25 years of experience in east Austin real estate and she founded Beck-Reit Commercial Real Estate.
Through this space, the group hopes to help other women entrepreneurs.
“We are going to have the conference room filled with events, events that are focused on women. We want you to learn,” Becker said. “We’ll sketch out how we did this project, financially, development wise, what we put in it. How that all went together.”
Women in commercial real estate
Women Are Still the Exception in CRE — But Not at WORKBENCH
While women have made strides in commercial real estate over the years, ownership and investment remain shockingly unbalanced.
"Only about 3% of commercial real estate worldwide is owned and managed by women. That number hasn’t budged in decades.”
— DeLea Becker, Founder of Beck-Reit Commercial Real Estate
According to a 2020 CREW Network report, women made up 37% of the overall CRE workforce — yet their representation in ownership, development, and capital-side roles remains disproportionately small. The growth has been slow. Too slow.
And that’s exactly what Shawna Sieck, Jennifer Seay, and DeLea Becker are aiming to change.
“This project is proof of what women can accomplish when we stop waiting for permission and start buying buildings,” says Seay.
WORKBENCH isn’t just about mass timber and sustainable design — it’s about ownership, influence, and opening doors that have long been closed.
Sieck puts it simply:
“We’re keeping our doors open — not just to tenants, but to anyone who wants guidance. If you’re trying to break into CRE, come on in. We’ll help you get there.”
All three are long-standing members of CREW Network, and the WORKBENCH project is a direct reflection of CREW’s mission: connecting women for dealmaking, development, and leadership in an industry where we’re still the minority.
At WORKBENCH, women don’t just work in the building — we own the blueprint.
Shawna, Jennifer and DeLea are all 3 longtime members of CREW.
