Nov 22, 2016

Broth Bar

Portland's Broth Bar has opened a second location in Olympia's new food hall: 222 Market. Bone broth is considered a traditional healing remedy. Broth Bar owners Tressa and Katie Yellig said they have gotten requests to open broth bars in other cities, and are looking at expansion. 222 Market will also have an oyster bar, bakery, distillery, florist, gelateria, grocery and cooking school.

Bellevue Arts Museum

Bellevue Arts Museum said Kemper Freeman of Kemper Development Co. is making two significant gifts to launch fundraising for updating the museum: $1 million for capital expenditures and $1 million to match other donations. The goal is to make external and internal upgrades to the museum, which was designed by Stephen Holl.

Absher Construction Co.

Buckley

Richards

Puyallup-based Absher Construction Co. promoted Jeff Richards to chief operations officer and Adam Buckley to chief estimator. Richards has been with the company for 13 years and is a graduate of the Construction Management program at the University of Washington. He previously was director of estimating. Buckley previously was senior estimator and now has a more active role in managing the Estimating Department. He graduated from Arizona State University and served in the Army Reserve.

Ritchie Bros.

Ritchie Bros. acquired Kramer Auctions, an agricultural auction company doing business in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Kramer runs about 75 on-the-farm auctions, four on-site auctions and eight livestock auctions each year. Ritchie is based in the Vancouver, B.C., area.

Nov 18, 2016

Emergency Food Network

The Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound gave a $320,000 grant to the Emergency Food Network in Pierce County to build a 2,500 square-foot storage facility in 2017 adjacent to the network's 20,000 square-foot warehouse. The new facility will have the capacity to hold an additional 140,000 pounds of food. The organization serves 70 food banks, meal sites and shelters. Information is at http://www.efoodnet.org.

Kent Parks

Mayor Suzette Cooke named Julie Parascondola director of Kent's Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, effective Dec. 5. She replaces Jeff Watling, who resigned in July. Parascondola will oversee 117 employees in seven divisions, overseeing maintenance and development for 68 parks and open spaces, and an extensive trail network. She has worked for Metro Parks Tacoma for 19 years, most recently as regional parks manager.

Nov 17, 2016

Lane Powell

Schaer

Murphy

Hulteng

Fickes

Lane Powell said Aaron J. Fickes, Meryl Hulteng, Patrick T. Murphy and Aaron Schaer have recently joined the firm. Fickes is in the Seattle office as an attorney in the Litigation Practice Group, where he will focus on transportation, aviation, regulatory compliance and appellate litigation. Hulteng has rejoined the Portland office in the Litigation Practice Group. Murphy has rejoined the Seattle office in the Startups and Emerging Companies Practice Group, where he will focus on corporate, business and transactional matters. Schaer has joined the Seattle office in the Litigation Practice Group, where he will focus on securities and corporate governance litigation.

Terra Property Analytics

Price

In Thomasville, Georgia, a team of volunteer real estate advisors recently helped the city evaluate a surplus mental hospital that the state intends to sell. Steve Price of Terra Property Analytics was on the five-person team, called the CRE Consulting Corps, organized by the Chicago-based Counselors of Real Estate. After a week-long visit to evaluate the 200-acre, 18-building campus (with over 400,000 square feet), Price and his colleagues are preparing a report on how the city of 18,000 might be affected by redeveloping the former Southwestern State Mental Institution and how the facility might next be used.

Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies

The UW's Runstad Center says that for the third quarter, the statewide median sales price for a single-family home rose to $305,000. That's 4.3 percent higher than the third quarter of last year, yet lower than the all-time high of $317,500, set in the second quarter of this year. Year over year, the rate of home sales is up 10.1 percent statewide. Peter Orser, Runstad Center's interim director, says, “Prices stayed strong, but as a result, affordability continued to be elusive for the average homebuyer. Affordability for all buyers, first time or otherwise, is most distressed in King County.” He points to a steep drop in permitting actvity: While King County sales were up 15.1 percent for the quarter, residential building permits declined by 40.6 percent. Runstad Center estimates the median King County home price is now $552,400, up 12.5 percent from last year.

Marcus & Millichap

M&M and Institutional Property Advisors on Dec. 7 are offering their Multifamily Forum, to be held at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. A keynote address will be given by David Dufenhorst of Security Properties. Other speakers will include Lori Mason Curran of Vulcan Real Estate, Glen Scheiber of Holland Partners and Kerry Nicholson of Legacy Partners. Topics will range from capital markets to asset repositioning to the ceaseless demand for tenant amenities. Details and registration at: mmseattleforum.com.