May 31, 2012

NorthMarq

Stuart Oswald of NorthMarq's Bellevue office arranged first mortgage refinancing of more than $4.9 million for the 63-unit Oxford Crest Apartments on Capitol Hill. The borrower is a West Coast apartment investor. NorthMarq arranged the loan through its seller-servicer relationship with Freddie Mac.

Keller Williams Realty

Keller Williams employees took a day off this month to work on community enhancement projects. Members of the 14 state offices did neighborhood projects and remodeled veterans' houses.

Xceligent

The commercial real estate information company Xceligent is expanding nationally. Xceligent and a company called DMG Information re-purchased all of Xceligent's outstanding shares. The transaction followed a consent decree by the Federal Trade Commission related to the merger of CoStar and LoopNet that required creation of a national competitor to CoStar. Xceligent officials say that DMG's funding will allow the company to match CoStar's national footprint. Xceligent created CommercialSearch.com as a national public listing and marketing platform. The company is working with the National Association of Realtors.

One Shop Wireless

One Shop Wireless, a partner with T-Mobile, introduced a wireless security device that real estate agents and property managers can use at properties without phone lines or wi-fi. The security device sends pictures and messages to a smart phone or tablet when motion is detected. The system can be used at open houses to keep track of visitors. For larger applications, a fixed system with up to eight cameras is available. CellSign Technologies developed the product, which uses T-Mobile networks but works on all phones with SMS and MMS.

ULI looks at housing demand

The Urban Land Institute's June 13 program is on demographic changes that fuel demand for housing development. It starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Seattle. The speaker is James Chung, president of Reach Advisors in New York. Panelists are Tomio Moriguchi of Uwajimaya and Stephanie Van Dyke of Seattle Housing Authority. Register at http://www.seattle.uli.org or call (800) 321-5011.

CREW event on smooth closings

Commercial Real Estate Women's June 14 noon lunch at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle will be about how to make closing deals go smoothly. Panelists are Amy Curran of Sterling Bank, Susie Detmer of Cushman & Wakefield|Commerce and Cleita Harvey of Urbis Partners. Register at http://www.crewseattle.org.

City of Seattle

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn appointed Magdaleno Rose-Avila director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. Rose-Avila was executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project of the Social Justice Fund NW and regional director of Amnesty International.

Sound Transit

Seattle's Sound Transit Deputy CEO Celia Kupersmith will retire Aug. 3. Prior to joining Sound Transit in 2010, Kupersmith worked as general manager/CEO of the Golden Gate Bridge, and was executive director of the Regional Transportation Commission in Reno, Nev.

KeyBank

Karen Mills, secretary of the U.S. Small Business Administration, named Ohio-based KeyBank top lender of the year.

Cupcake Royale

Jody Hall said her Seattle company Cupcake Royale is launching Cupcake Royale Ice Cream and opening a new location in July at 108 Pine St. in Seattle. Cupcake Royale plans to carry 14 flavors of ice cream and ice cream sandwiches.