Oct 18, 2007

The Neptune Society

The Neptune Society, a national cremation services company, opened an office in Bellevue at 13256 N.E. 20th St. The Neptune Society has 38 locations in 10 states. Washington offices are in Lynnwood, Kent and Spokane. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Union Bank of California

Union Bank of California hired Catherine Irby Arnold as vice president and senior wealth advisor. Arnold has 20 years experience in financial services and was national sales and marketing manager for Key Bank/McDonald Investments. She will be based at the Seattle office.

Unicoil International

Unicoil International in Vancouver hired Steve Schwab as U.S.-based vice president of sales. Schwab was with the WD-40 Co. for 25 years. Unicoil manufactures an alternative to pre-molded automotive hoses.

Rafel Law Group

Seattle-based Rafel Law Group, formerly Rafel Manville, hired David C. Martin and Cynthia B. Jones as new associates.

GVA Kidder Mathews

Stuart Kieland joined the Bellevue office of GVA Kidder Mathews, where he will specialize in office tenant representation. Kraig Heeter joined the South Seattle office specializing in industrial sales and leasing. Heeter completed approximately $30 million in transactions at CB Richard Ellis prior to joining GVA. GVA has seven offices in Washington, Oregon, and California.

Pacific Real Estate Partners

Pacific Real Estate Partners promoted Daniel Seger to vice president.

Tacoma in top 10 markets

Sperry Van Ness commercial real estate brokerage picked Tacoma as one of the 2007 Top 10 Markets To Watch for multifamily investment. The report focuses on future trends and markets that show the greatest potential for income growth. Other top markets are Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Inland Empire in Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose. Tacoma has strong fundamentals, with household income expected to grow 4.8 percent in 2008, the report said.

Opus Northwest

Harbor Square, a 180-unit condominium development on Bainbridge Island, won Multifamily Executive magazine's grand prize for mid-rise projects. M Street, a mixed-use project on First Hill, received a merit award in the high-rise category. The magazine's criteria includes architecture, landscaping, floor-plans and creative financing. Opus developed Harbor Square and Opus Northwest Contractors was the contractor. Mithun is the architect. M Street was developed by Opus NWR Development and Seattle-based Holland Partners I LLC. Opus was the contractor and GGLO was the design architect.