Russell Investments has morphed from simply a global investment manager looking for a new place to call home into the prettiest girl at the ball.

The line of suitors who think they own the perfect glass slipper to fit Russell’s future real estate footprint just got longer.

The City of Federal Way has teamed up with businessman Bryan Park to offer the Tacoma-based investment giant an 11-acre swath of former retail space north of The Commons at Federal Way, formerly SeaTac Mall.

Target and Toys “R” Us stores, both now vacant, formerly operated on the site adjacent to the transit center. The concept plan, drafted by Weber + Thompson Architects, a Seattle firm, shows four high-rise towers, two low-rise buildings for Russell’s team of investment traders and a grand, curved entranceway.

Federal Way’s entry in the sweepstakes to win Russell’s future headquarters will go up against three confirmed proposals in downtown Tacoma. Russell executives expect to decide by the end of the year whether to remain in Tacoma after leases expire in 2013 or build a new corporate headquarters elsewhere.

Does Federal Way consider itself a shoe-in or a long shot?

“We are a bit of an underdog,” said Patrick Doherty, Federal Way’s economic development director. “‘Underdog’ sounds a little softer than ‘long shot.’”

In Federal Way’s written pitch, Mayor Jack Dovey noted that his city, unlike Tacoma, imposes no business and occupation taxes and offers closer access to Sea-Tac Airport. Federal Way has a lower property tax rate than Tacoma, Pierce County and several other King County cities. Federal Way also serves as the corporate home for Weyerhaeuser, World Vision, Totem Ocean Trailer Express and Baden Sports.

Dovey also noted that City Hall has an unspecified amount of government funds available to commit to redevelopment of the city center.

During conversations with Russell representatives, Doherty said, he learned of two key items on the corporate wish list. First, Russell has an increasingly younger work force with a craving to live closer to or in the Seattle scene. Plus, out-of-town visitors who come to meet with Russell prefer to stay in Seattle.

“There’s some tension there,” Doherty said.

Second, Russell doesn’t like Tacoma’s B&O tax, he said.

The City of Tacoma collects about $800,000 a year in B&O tax on international investment management services. Sixty-three companies fall into that category, but just nine – Russell being the largest – paid the tax the last two years, according to the city’s Tax & License Division. Thirty-eight Washington cities levy a B&O tax.

Federal Way made its proposal, Doherty said, without bad-mouthing Tacoma.

“It’s kind of delicate,” he said. “We don’t want to scare them off Tacoma.

“Ultimately, if Tacoma is able to satisfy Russell in every regard, it’s not as good for us as them coming here, but we still do benefit from them being in Tacoma. It makes the whole area strong to have them there.”

Federal Way officials looked at multiple locations to present to Russell, including acreage in East Campus near Weyerhaeuser for a more midrise, suburban-style corporate campus.

But accommodating the projected 1.2 million square feet of office space Russell could command over the next 20 years didn’t make sense in a suburban campus, Doherty said.

“You would need a farm of eight to nine buildings four to five stories high,” he said. “We didn’t pitch that, because we didn’t think that’s what they were looking for.”

So the city got together with businessman Park, having already talked to him about how he might use his city center acreage to advance the creation of a high-rise downtown. Park was out of the country on business and could not be reached for comment this week.

Russell’s presence in Federal Way would make it somewhat of a pioneer in the redevelopment of the city’s center into what Doherty describes as a future with a “more densely developed, mixed-use, high-rise, transit-oriented, full-service, pedestrian-friendly urban center.”

Give the underdog credit for getting into the game.

“We tend to think there’s more potential here than people give us credit for,” Doherty said.

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

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