Oct 23, 2014

Grand opening for 12th Ave Arts

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Two theaters are on the ground floor of the complex.

Capitol Hill Housing will hold a grand opening event at 4 p.m. Nov. 20 for 12th Avenue Arts, a new 88-unit affordable housing project at 1620 12th Ave.

Local restaurants will provide refreshments, and there will be performances from two theater companies that have theaters on the ground floor of the complex.

SMR Architects designed 12th Avenue Arts, and Walsh Construction Co. is the general contractor.

Other team members are: Coughlin Porter Lundeen, civil and structural engineer; The Greenbusch Group, plumbing, mechanical and acoustical engineer; Glumac, electrical engineer; Place+Land, landscape architect; JRS Engineering, building envelope; and PLA designs, which did theater design.

For more information, or to register, visit: http://bit.ly/1sPw2wE .

Blanton Turner wins MHN award

Seattle-based property management and consulting firm Blanton Turner won a 2014 silver award from Multi-Housing News in the Property Management Company of the Year category. Since opening in 2011, Blanton Turner has compiled a portfolio of multifamily, mixed-use, student housing and commercial real estate throughout the Puget Sound region. Blanton Turner said it expects steady growth in 2015, with several new projects opening.

65 properties up for auction Nov. 15

Several Washington properties will be up for grabs at Realty Marketing/Northwest's Fall 2014 Auction. There will be an oral auction Nov. 15 at Embassy Suites Portland Airport Hotel and a sealed-bid auction Nov. 19. The auction includes 65 properties in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California. In Washington they include: land along the White River in Auburn; a bank-owned building in Spokane's historic district; a 79-acre residential tract near Lake Tapps; 9.6 acres at Smokey Point; timberland; and two development sites — 15 and 140 acres — near Quinault Beach Resort and Casino. For more information and to view the properties, visit: http://www.rmnw-auctions.com/

Redfin opens Fresno office

Seattle-based brokerage Redfin opened an office in Fresno, California, and hired Marti Cook to run it. Cook is a native of Fresno and a graduate of California State University Fresno, and has worked in residential sales since 2004. Redfin says it uses online and mobile tools to give customers up-to-date information about the for-sale market.

Oct 16, 2014

NAIOP cleans up North Bend school

Photo courtesy of NAIOP [enlarge]

More than 320 people volunteered with NAIOP Oct. 4.

More than 320 volunteers from real estate, design and construction firms came to Waskowitz Outdoor School in North Bend Oct. 4 for the NAIOP chapter's annual community enhancement project.

Work at the 372-acre camp included painting, relocating a large deck, replanting the entrance, repairing trails, replacing a split-rail fence, constructing a green house, removing invasive plants, and placing crushed rock on walks and parking lots.

HFC names 6 housing ‘friends'

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission announced the winners of the 2014 Friend of Housing awards: Stephen Buxbaum, mayor of Olympia; Chris Venne, senior housing developer at Community Frameworks in Bremerton; Jayne Auld, who recently retired from Spokane Housing Ventures; Adrienne Quinn, formerly of Seattle Office of Housing and now with King County Community and Human Services; Beacon Development Group, a Seattle-based affordable housing developer; and Harry Hoffman, former executive director of Housing Development Consortium. The commission gave Ishbel Dickens the Margaret M. Sevy Affordable Housing Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on manufactured housing.

RE/MAX partners with Chinese website

Bellevue-based RE/MAX Pacific Realty signed an agreement with a Chinese real estate website called Worldfang.com to display RE/MAX Pacific Realty listings. Worldfang helps Chinese customers with overseas real estate investment, and plans to set up an office at RE/MAX's Bellevue space. RE/MAX was founded by Shelly Hu.

Tour Capitol Hill building with ULI

Urban Land Institute Northwest's Young Leaders Group will tour the Central Agency Building on Capitol Hill at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 29. The auto-row-style building at 952 E. Seneca St. was once used for file storage and covered with metal siding that concealed its historic structure. In 2013 local investors Jerry Everard and Alex Rosenast began a renovation that has created three large retail spaces with exposed timber trusses and mezzanines. After the tour is happy hour and networking. Register at Northwest.uli.org or call 1-800-321-5011.

Everett port sells former HQ

The Port of Everett Commission recently approved the sale of a 14,000-square-foot office building at 2911 Bond St. in Everett. Brian Evans and Robert Bauer, the current tenants and owners of Bauer Evans Inc., are buying the building for $1.68 million. They had planned to buy the building, which was once the port headquarters, in 2008 but the purchase was delayed due to the recession. The sale is expected to close in early 2015.