Jul 26, 2007

Sheraton Seattle Hotel

The Sheraton Seattle Hotel hired Tami Simons and Wendy Floyd as sales managers. Simons will be responsible for sales of guest rooms and meeting space for the West Coast, while Floyd will handle the Washington, D.C., territory for stays up to 150 rooms per night. Simons was with the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, Calif. Floyd was with the Courtyard Marriott in Bellevue.

Avenue A / Razorfish

Avenue A / Razorfish, an international interactive services firm, promoted Clark Kokich to CEO. Kokich has been with the company since 1999 and has been worldwide president for two years. The company is an operating unit of Seattle-based aQuantive.

Pratt Fine Arts Center

Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle hired Michelle Bufano as executive director. Bufano has been interim executive director for 16 months. She has 20 years experience and has worked with the Tacoma Art Museum and the Museum of Glass. Pratt was founded in 1976 to offer arts education programs and studio rentals to artists.

Wallace Properties

Wallace Properties has added Douglas D. Plager to its brokerage division, specializing in office sales and leasing. Plager has experience in commercial real estate brokerage and also ran his own advertising agency. Wallace Properties handles leasing, sales, syndication and property management.

Norris, Beggs & Simpson

Portland-based Norris, Beggs & Simpson Companies has added two partners: Blake Hering, Jr. and Mike Wood, both of NBS Financial Services. Hering has originated loans valued at $800 million during his tenure with the company. His transactions include securing $50 million for the HAL Renton Portfolio,

and $42 million for the Clackamas Promenade. Wood spearheaded the expansion of Norris, Beggs & Simpson's Real Estate Finance operations in the Puget Sound area.

Northcut Landing

The more services businesses have opened in Northcut Landing at 5001 25th Ave. N.E. Countrywide Home Loans, Countrywide Bank and Julep Nail Parlor are the most recent additions to the 90,000-square-foot complex. Pizzeria Fondi will open in August, along with Rooster's Espresso and a branch of Northwest Hospital. The project is 75 percent leased. PBO Properties is the developer. The firm has expanded from residential real estate into commercial development, with projects in Seattle and Newcastle.

Everett Riverfront

The Everett Riverfront, a mixed-use development along the Snohomish River, has signed Cinetopia, a 16-screen movie theater and entertainment complex, as the first retail tenant. Cinetopia theaters have digital super high definition projectors and luxury seating. It will also have an art gallery, tropical garden, restaurant and wine bar. Everett Riverfront is set to open in the summer of 2010, with 450,000 square feet of retail. The developer is OliverMcMillan of San Diego, Calif.

Jul 25, 2007

Foster Pepper

The Seattle office of law firm Foster Pepper hired Colm P. Nelson and Allison C. Schwartzman. Nelson is an associate in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group and was with Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker. Schwartzman is an associate in the Municipal Government and Public Finance Practice Groups and was a public finance associate at Dilworth Paxton in Philadelphia. Foster Pepper has offices in Seattle, Spokane and Portland.

Tacoma Art Museum

The Tacoma Art Museum hired Margaret Bullock as curator of collections and special exhibitions. Bullock was curator and collections manager at the Harwood Museum of Art at the University of New Mexico in Taos, N.M.

Dillanos Coffee Roasters

Dillanos Coffee Roasters of Sumner acquired Dominic's Coffee Co. of Tumwater. Dominic's was founded in 1999 by COO Scott Erickson, and currently has more than 150 customers with sales nearing $3 million.

SRG Partnership

SRG Partnership has hired four people. Royce Bixby, Nathan Messmer and Shohei Yokoyama have been hired as intern architects. Michelle Kang is the Seattle office's new marketing coordinator.

ACEC

The American Council of Engineering Companies of Washington has chosen Kurt Gahnberg, a principal with The Transpo Group, as president of the association. Gahnberg has more than 26 years of experience in transportation planning and has been an active member in ACEC of Washington since 1997. Serving on the board with Gahnberg are: president-elect Tom Skillings of Skillings-Connolly; vice presidents Dwight Miller of Parametrix and Chris Robertson of Shannon & Wilson; and directors Steve Johnston of Landau Associates, Cliff Morey of Thomas, Dean & Hoskins, Rich Reis of W&H Pacific, Carol Slaughterbeck of Herrera Environmental Consultants, Nancy Walker of Brown and Caldwell, and national director Gary Bourne of BHC Consultants.

Belt Collins

Belt Collins has hired six new people. Sarah Hunt, Eric Dripps and Angela Diamond join as engineers-in-training for the company's Civil Engineering practice. Alexander White is now a civil engineer. April Saunders joins as the office manager and marketing coordinator. Tricia Lamb is an intern for the Civil Engineering division.

ZGF

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects has added six new employees to its design team. New associate Sean C. Kendig has more than 12 years of experience and has worked at numerous firms including TVS Interiors, The Environments Group and spAce. Denise Sico has joined the interiors group as an associate. Prior to joining the firm she worked at SkB in Seattle as a senior interior designer and project manager, and worked at Callison Architecture for 10 years. Marc Chavez has joined as a specifications writer and associate partner. Chavez worked as an independent specifications consultant on projects including the new Sea-Tac Air Traffic Control Tower. Prior to his career in architecture, he was an archaeologist. Greg Putney has transferred from the company's Los Angeles office as an associate partner. He is currently working on the Fifth and Columbia Tower project. Adrienne Watkins has joined the architectural group and is also working on Fifth and Columbia. She recently graduated from UC Berkeley in architecture. Crystal Passi joins as a student intern.

Hewitt

Hewitt has hired 13 new staff members. Tamiko Yoder joins the team as administrative manager. Debra Kroeze joins as assistant business manager. Brian Ritchhart is a specifications writer. Ritchhart has more than 30 years of experience in architecture and design. David Akiyama and Audrey Bateman have joined the Landscape Architecture Studio. Dylan Glosecki is working with the team on a mixed-use project in West Seattle. Sheldon Green joins the company for a mixed-use project in Green Lake. Sarah Hill is helping with the East Link Conceptual Engineering and will work on the Anacortes Multimodal Terminal later this summer. Eric Murphy contributes to multiple mixed-use projects in Interbay. Sean Sullivan is contributing to several large mixed-use projects. Richard Tran joins to work on a mixed-use project in Green Lake. Dana Weiss joins the Landscape Architect Studio. Andrew Wilbur joins Hewitt as receptionist and administrative assistant.

Integrus Architecture

Integrus Architecture has hired two staffers. David Van Galen joins the company as a lead designer for the Seattle office. Van Galen has more than 20 years of experience in master planning and design of large and complex projects. Past projects include the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, and the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Headquarters Building. Brad Doll joins as an intern architect with experience in architecture, computer graphics and rendering design.