Sep 01, 2006

Westin Seattle

The Westin Seattle has hired Paul DiNapoli as director of rooms. He has held several management positions for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which owns The Westin Seattle.

GA Creative

GA Creative named Sandy Jones-Kaminski director of business development. She was with Information Resources and Strategic Media Research in Chicago. GA Creative is a Bellevue-based graphic design and marketing firm.

Perkins Coie

Perkins Coie has received approval from China's Ministry of Justice to open an office in Shanghai. The firm currently has an office in Beijing. The Shanghai office will focus primarily on intellectual property, business and personal planning.

Aug 31, 2006

Sandler Sales Institute

The Sandler Sales Institute, an international sales and sales management training organization, has hired Doug Hoselton to take over its Seattle branch. Hoselton has worked for Capgemini, CSC, AstraZeneca and Prudentia Consulting.

Department of Natural Resources

Vicki Christiansen has been appointed as the state Department of Natural Resources' executive director of regulatory programs and its state forester. DNR fights forest fires and oversees 12.7 million acres of private and state-owned forest land. Christiansen began work with the agency in 1980 as a wildland firefighter.

Trans-Net

Trans-Net has hired Charles M. Ogle as senior operations executive. The freight forwarder and consolidator is based in Issaquah and has offices in China, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the Russian Far East. Ogle was vice president of ocean services at DHL Worldwide.

Vertafore

Vertafore, a Bothell-based software provider for the insurance industry, has agreed to acquire BenefitPoint, a San Francisco-based software company.

Washington Holdings

Josh Keene of Seattle-based Washington Holdings has been promoted to senior property manager at Union Square. Jim Smith has been promoted to director of construction. Washington Holdings is an investment firm focusing on commercial property investments and development, structured finance investments, and land development primarily in the Western United States.

Flinn Ferguson

Local corporate real estate firm Flinn Ferguson hired Chris Kagi and Spencer Marona to handle property acquisition and leasing. Kagi most recently worked at Colliers International and has more than five years experience in commercial real estate. Kagi has negotiated more than 250,000 square feet of lease transactions worth $30 million. Marona's previous experience includes new-business development at OfficeSpace.com. Flinn Ferguson focuses solely on tenant representation.

Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield of Washington has hired Brie Jensen to join the Eastside office leasing team. Jensen brings three years of professional brokerage and legal experience to the firm. Jensen worked as an associate in the Seattle office of Preston Gates & Ellis where she focused on commercial real estate, development and finance. She also served as a broker in the Bellevue office of Pacific Real Estate Partners.

The Ashforth Co.

The Ashforth Co. of Stamford, Conn., has acquired One Pacific Square in Portland in partnership with GE Asset Management. One Pacific Square is located at 220 N.W. Second Ave. It is 13 stories with 240,000 square feet and was built in 1983. It is the corporate headquarters of NW Natural Gas Co.

Dan Ivanoff to address CREW

The Thursday, Sept. 14, meeting of Commercial Real Estate Women will be on the topic of “Schnitzer Northwest's Vision for the Future.” Dan Ivanoff, co-founder and managing partner of Schnitzer Northwest, will talk about the firm's office, industrial, bio-tech and multi-family developments. The firm has grown from five employees and a portfolio of 270,000 square feet to more than 100 employees with 1.1 million square feet of assets, 8 million square feet of property under management and another 6 million in development. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. with registration and networking at the Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Ave., Seattle. For information see http://www.crewseattle.org.