May 01, 2015

Redfin

Frey

Redfin real estate brokerage named Bridget Frey chief technology officer. She was senior vice president of engineering at Redfin and has been with the company since 2011. Frey will lead engineering in Seattle and San Francisco. She has worked on a number of new tools including Redfin Shared Search and Redfin Hot Homes.

Bartell Drugs

Brian Unmacht is now president and CEO of Bartell Drugs, after being named president of the 62-store Seattle-based chain in January. George D. Bartell has been CEO for 25 years and will continue as chairman. Jean Bartell Barber is vice chairman and treasurer. Unmacht, 54, joined Bartell Drugs following a 27-year career at REI.

Averro

Launch Consulting of Roseville, California, has acquired Averro, a Bellevue-based technical services company. Averro brings Launch additional expertise in project management, business analysis and user experience design. Launch has offices in Bellevue and Hyderabad, India, and employs over 350 people in technology consulting, managed services and software development.

Apr 30, 2015

Helsell Fetterman

Mike Harrington joined Helsell Fetterman as co-chair of the Labor and Employment Practice Group and the Health Care Practice Group. He has over 20 years of experience representing employers in labor cases, health care, benefits and other business matters. Harrington was counsel to Lane Powell in Seattle.

Azuqua

Matthew Shanahan was named chief marketing officer at the tech startup Azuqua in Seattle. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the software and tech industry, and was SVP of strategy at Scout Analytics, a SaaS-based recurring revenue optimization solution. Mark Wolfram joined Azuqua as VP of channels and Alexis Mohr is director of demand generation. Azuqua focuses on helping clients integrate cloud services.

Window Genie

Window Genie opened a new location in Redmond owned by Ben Bare. The home services franchise specializes in window cleaning, tinting, pressure washing and gutter cleaning. Window Genie of Redmond will serve Kirkland, Redmond and Woodinville. Bare spent eight years as an Army Ranger.

Weidner in the top 50

Kirkland-based Weidner Apartment Homes has been added to the National Multifamily Housing Council's list of the top 50 biggest apartment owners and managers nationwide. Weidner ranked 27th for apartments owned and 29th for managed. The company owns and manages 41,175 units nationwide. Weidner is the only Washington-based company to make either list. It first cracked the top 50 three years ago. In 2014, Weidner added 2,800 units to its portfolio. It is buying in several markets and planning to build more than 3,500 units. Weidner says its goal is to have 50,000 units by its 50-year anniversary in 2027.

Red Lion buys GuestHouse, Settle Inn

Spokane-based Red Lion Hotels Corp. said it will buy the GuestHouse International and Settle Inn hotel brands. Red Lion will get intellectual property assets and franchise license agreements for 73 hotels, with nearly 5,200 rooms for $8.5 million, with a potential additional payment of up to $1.5 million. The sale is expected to close today. This transaction more than doubles Red Lion's hotel portfolio from 57 to 130 hotels in 30 states. GuestHouse and Settle Inn properties will remain under those brands, but Red Lion will update the reservation systems.

NAIOP topic: Cities, smartphones and 787s

NAIOP's May breakfast meeting is titled “Cities, Smartphones and 787s: The Technologies Driving How We Move and Live Today.” The event begins at 7:30 a.m. May 20 at Four Seasons Seattle. Greg Lindsay, senior fellow at World Policy Institute, will talk about how airports will be the new centers of development and growth, and the popularity of new transportation methods like Uber. For more information, or to register, visit: http://goo.gl/VvZnUJ