May 03, 2007

Pilchuck Glass School

Seattle artist Michael Fox has been chosen to design centerpieces for Pilchuck Glass School's 29th Annual Auction Gala on Oct. 26 at the Westin Hotel Seattle. Fox will lead a team of 20 glassblowers in the creation of 120 glass centerpieces. The Pilchuck Glass School was founded in 1971 by Dale Chihuly.

Venture Bank

Venture Bank hired Daniel Miller as a mortgage loan officer at the Kent Financial Center. He has six year of banking experience. Venture Bank has 17 offices in four Western Washington counties.

CarHop

CarHop, based in Lincoln, Neb., opened two Washington stores. One is at 8208 Aurora Ave. N. in Seattle, the other is at 1619 Auburn Way in Auburn. CarHop is a car dealership that caters to customers with low credit scores. It has 16 locations across the country.

Idaho General Mines

Spokane-based Idaho General Mines hired David A. Chaput as chief financial officer. Chaput has 26 years of financial and operational experience in the metals and mining industries, and most recently worked at Doe Run Resources Corp.

King County Bar Association

The King County Bar Association named Seattle lawyer Lisa A. Hayes Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year for 2007. The annual award is designed to recognize a lawyer under the age of 37 who has made substantial contributions to the local legal profession. Hayes is a principal at Rafel Manville in Seattle.

Stellar Holdings

Stellar Holdings, an international real estate investment and development firm headquartered in Seattle, promoted Paige Brown to chief financial officer and Karin Luton to real estate analyst. Brown will oversee market analysis programs and manage the financial capital behind individual projects in the United States, and coordinate activities between the U.S. and European offices. She was previously controller. Luton will manage financial and market analysis projects for the company. She was formerly an executive assistant and developed a residential life program at a university in Linköping, Sweden. Stellar Holdings is the primary investor for Thornton Place, a mixed-use complex south of Northgate Mall. Stellar has partnered with Lorig Associates to develop apartments, condos and retail. The family-owned business has holdings in the U.S., Sweden and Poland.

McQuaid Commercial Real Estate Brokers

Michael McQuaid, former CEO and a founding partner of Paragon Real Estate Advisors, has opened McQuaid Commercial Real Estate Brokers. McQuaid, who has represented clients for more than 20 years, said he modeled the new business to function like an open trading floor so market information can be passed quickly between agents. It is located at 400 Roy St., near Seattle Center.

Tarragon

The developer Tarragon LLC added three people to the Tarragon Construction staff. Jeff Pinter is a project manager. He was a project manager with Skanska USA Building and worked on Lincoln Square and Advanta Office Commons @ I-90. He will manage construction of 250,000 square feet of retail at Sunrise Village in Puyallup. David Uhron is a superintendent. He was with Intracorp, where he oversaw condo and single-family projects. Adam Olson is a project engineer. He was a construction manager with Turner Construction in Los Angeles.

Seattle Mortgage

Seattle Mortgage Co. hired Derek Marks as Southwest territory manager for correspondent sales in the Reverse Mortgage Division. He was formerly area sales manager of LoanCity. Seattle Mortgage and its affiliates have been offering reverse mortgages since 1995.

NAIOP meeting on Pacific Rim projects

The monthly meeting of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties will be held May 16 at the Hyatt Regency, Bellevue, from 7 to 9 a.m. Four panelists from international companies will talk about their work: William F. Gartz of Callison, Colin Shepherd of Hines and James Ableson of Microsoft. The moderator is Sean Huang of KMD Architects. The topics include development trends in Asian cities, working with people from different cultures, how we influence each other, and what Seattle needs to do to attract and retain talent. For information contact the NAIOP office at (206) 382-9121.