Oct 20, 2011

USG Insurance Services

USG Insurance Services, a national wholesaler of insurance services, added a new satellite office in the Seattle area. Stacy Goddard will lead the branch. Goddard was an underwriter with Hull and Co. USG has 14 U.S. offices and plans to expand on the West Coast.

Davis Wright Tremaine

Davis Wright Tremaine hired Fraser Mendel as a partner in the Seattle office. Mendel is an attorney with 15 years experience advising clients on business in China and handling China-to-U.S. investments and acquisitions. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and spent a decade practicing in China, primarily with Morrison & Foerster.

Cairncross & Hempelmann

Cairncross & Hempelmann hired Jessica Tsao as an associate attorney. Tsao spent the summer of 2010 with the firm as a summer associate before returning for her final year of law school at the University of Washington School of Law.

HRG is now Bellwether

Housing Resources Group changed its name to Bellwether Housing. Officials say the new name better reflects the nonprofit's role as an affordable housing developer. Bellwether means something that influences or sets trends. Bellwether Executive Director Sarah Rick Lewontin said, “We recognize that it's time for us to raise awareness of what we do in the community.” Bellwether manages 29 buildings with 1,800 apartments in Seattle, providing housing for 3,000 people.

Hendricks & Partners

Hendricks & Partners' Kenny Dudunakis and Marty Leith brokered the sale of the 23-unit Clar-Ann Apartments at 2001 Eastlake Ave. E. The 1957 property sold for $2.97 million. Hendricks & Partners negotiated for the seller, a limited liability company managed by Phyllis Pulisevich of Seattle. Records list the buyer as an LLC affiliated with Gramor of Seattle.

HREC and Rochdale

HREC Investment Advisors and Rochdale Capital Advisors have created Hotel Debt Trader, with Real Capital Markets as the technology partner. At the website hoteldebttrader.com users can work with people from HREC and Rochdale to sell loans by marketing them through a “reverse inquiry” to a limited number of buyers.

Matrix Real Estate

Matrix Real Estate is conducting its annual survey of the Seattle-area real estate market. The anonymous survey for renters and homeowners takes about five minutes to complete. The survey is at http://tiny.cc/873qz.

Washington Realtors

The Washington Association of Realtors, the Washington State Office of the Attorney General and others have produced a video that explains homeowners' rights under the new state Foreclosure Fairness Act. Under the law, homeowners facing foreclosure may have the right to meet with their lender and demand mediation to attempt a modification of their loan. The three-part video is at http://WArealtor.vidmeup.com. More than 10,000 Washington state homes were in foreclosure during the first half of 2011 and another 76,400 homeowners are “seriously delinquent” on their mortgages.

Night of the Stars

NAIOP's Night of the Stars awards gala is at 6 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Bellevue Hyatt Regency. Winners of a dozen awards, from Developer of the Year to Commercial Interior of the Year, will be announced. Developer of the Year nominees are Harbor Properties, Vulcan Real Estate and Teutsch Partners. Deal of the Year nominees are Seventh & Madison/Polyclinic, the Columbia Pacific industrial portfolio, and the third phase of the UW Medicine Research complex. Register at naiopwa.org.

Urban Land Institute's Emerging Trends

Charles DiRocco of PricewaterhouseCoopers will be keynote speaker at the Urban Land Institute's 2012 Emerging Trends breakfast program at 7:30 a.m. Nov. 9 in the Sheraton Seattle. There will be a presentation on the Emerging Trends publication and a panel discussion moderated by Judy Runstad of Foster Pepper. Panelists are Brian Fritz of AvalonBay Communities, Jim Gallagher of Cornerstone Real Estate in San Francisco and Douglas Howe of Touchstone Corp. Register at seattle.uli.org or by calling 1 (800) 321-5011.