Oct 25, 2018

CREW gets modular

Image from Gensler [enlarge]

citizenM

The Dutch boutique hotel chain citizenM is building a modular 264-room hotel at 201 Westlake Ave. N., with Gensler as the architect and Mortenson Construction as the general contractor. The modules were made in Poland and shipped to the site. You can learn all about the project at CREW's next monthly luncheon, at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 8 at Motif Seattle hotel (1415 Fifth Ave.) On hand will be Lauren Boedeker and Cori Palmer from Mortenson and Sukyee Pang from Gensler. Details and registration: crewseattle.org.

Pinnacle promotes Tina Boone

Boone

Dallas-based Pinnacle Property Management Services has promoted Tina Boone to vice president in charge of the Seattle multifamily team. Boone began her property management career in Texas as a leasing agent, and worked in administrative positions before moving to Washington, working with Archstone, Indigo Real Estate Services and Thrive Communities. She joined Pinnacle earlier this year. Pinnacle's Eric Schwabe said Boone “has a keen ability to turn any asset into a top performing property.” Pinnacle now manages a portfolio with over 165,000 residential units and 2.75 million square feet. It has over 4,100 employees in 30 states.

Thrive hires Amy Williams

Williams

Multifamily property manager Thrive Communities hired Amy L. Williams as regional director. She makes the move from Security Properties, and has two decades of experience in the field. Thrive's Rose O'Dell said in a statement, “With a vast knowledge of the Pacific Northwest multifamily and condominium markets, Amy has incredible experience supervising a wide variety of real estate developments.” Thrive is the property management arm of Rise Properties Trust, a Canadian REIT with a Seattle office. Rise has lately been on a buying spree in this area, and now has about 2,000 units in its local portfolio.

(Editor's note: This story has been changed to correct Amy Williams' title.)

Broderick Smith to depart family firm

Broderick Smith

Broderick Smith, son of Urban Visions founder Greg Smith, has announced he will leave the firm in 2019 after about 12 years to pursue new, unspecified ventures. He said in a statement, “Urban Visions has another 2 million square feet of office development teed up in downtown Seattle. I will be excited and proud to watch it all go up over the next few years.” Broderick's grandfather Martin Smith was a longtime partner with the legendary Henry Broderick.

ULI's Emerging Trends is Oct. 31

Urban Land Institute's annual Emerging Trends presentation is next week, to be delivered by PwC's Mitch Roschelle. He'll survey the state of the market, with particular emphasis on tech and innovation — including artificial intelligence and machine learning. One highlight from the bound report is that Seattle has dropped from its No. 1 position last year to No. 16 among PwC's hot real estate markets. The breakfast event begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31 at the Sheraton. Details and registration: northwest.uli.org.

Oct 18, 2018

Laconia says Spire is pre-selling well

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Back in June, Laconia Development and Chinese partner Vanke announced that the 41-story Spire, now under construction at 600 Wall St., would be condos, not apartments. Realogics Sotheby's International Realty is marketing the 347 units, and the companies now report that the first open house this month yielded 114 reservations worth $125 million. Realogics' Dean Jones said about a third of the condos were reserved quickly “with strong demand at all property types and price points.” He estimates that 25 percent of the pre-sold units were priced at over $1 million. Prices run from about $500,000 to $3.5 million. The sales center will open Oct. 27 at 2218 Fifth Ave. in Belltown.

CBRE promotes Kim Berg

Berg

CBRE has promoted Kim Berg to managing director of asset services for Seattle and Portland. She'll oversee about 48.7 million square feet in all categories. The 17-year industry veteran will remain in the Seattle office, where she recently specialized in the Eastside and Seattle central business district.

NKF bulks up on valuation

Newmark Knight Frank has added seven people to its Seattle valuation and advisory practice. Reporting to team leader Stan E. Wolf will be Nancy Dawn, Dane Armbruster, Joe Dracobly, Chris Mealy, Darnell Ford, Austin Johnson and Devon Preiser. Many of them came from Cushman & Wakefield. Down in Portland, NKF has added Ryan S. Prusse, Jennifer Tillema, John Boyle and Louis Knox to its V&A team.

Cherney joins Greystone in Seattle

New York-based lender, investor and advisor Greystone has added Jennifer Cherney to its Northwest team. She makes the move from JP Morgan Chase. Greystone says she's negotiated and closed more than 400 transactions valued in excess of $6 billion, mostly in the multifamily sector. Greystone is active in health care and multifamily finance, with platforms including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CMBS and FHA.