Mar 11, 2021

Broadmark supplies $21M for Tacoma units

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For the planned 131-unit Flats at Wright Park in Tacoma's Stadium District, Broadmark Realty Capital announced the recent provision of a $21.5 million construction loan. Barcelo Homes is the developer and builder for the six-story project, which it acquired last year with all necessary permits for $3.5 million. Christopher Jones Architects designed the project, which Barcelo will build. Broadmark's Jeff Pyatt said of the Tacoma loan, plus two others in Tennessee and Colorado, “As demand for high-quality housing continues to outpace supply across the nation, our proven business model has enabled us to keep offering creative financing solutions to a variety of sponsors.” All three multifamily loans were worth over $53 million.

SHA gets new board member

Mayor Jenny Durkan recently named a new commissioner, Rita Howard, to the Seattle Housing Authority board of commissioners. She takes one of the two resident positions — meaning she's a resident in an SHA community. Her term is four years. SHA says that Howard is a retiree who now fills her time with activism, church and volunteering at a food bank.

Lockton Washington

Lockton Companies, an independent insurance brokerage and risk management firm, hired Peter Tran, a property risk management expert, as senior vice president. Since opening its Washington practice last year, Lockton has bolstered its local presence and Seattle-based Real Estate and Employee Benefits client service teams. Tran most recently served as a vice president and Real Estate Practice Group lead with Seattle brokerage firm Parker, Smith & Feek. With 20 years of experience developing risk management solutions for property owners, developers, contractors, and managers, Tran specializes in affordable housing insurance and non-profit housing development.

BitTitan

BitTitan, the developer of MigrationWiz and a provider of managed services automation, announced Manoj Kalyanaraman as the company's new vice president of product and engineering. Kalyanaraman will be headquartered in BitTitan's Singapore office. He joined BitTitan in 2019 as a director of engineering and site leader. Prior to joining BitTitan, Kalyanaraman held the role of chief technology officer for the hospitality industry's Next Story Group. His experience includes an extended tenure with Intuit in India and the United States. At Intuit, he led a global engineering organization, heading the TurboTax suite of products for the United States and Canadian markets. BitTitan has offices in Seattle and Singapore.

JND Legal Administration

Legal management and administration company, JND Legal Administration has again been named as the Best Class Action Claims Administrator by U.S. attorneys and legal service providers, as published in the National Law Journal's ‘Best of 2021' annual reader survey. The NLJ ‘Best of 2021' is the 10th annual edition of the national survey and lists the nation's top providers across more than 60 legal service categories. The survey recognizes best-in-class service providers and functions as a vendor guide for law firms and businesses in search of peer-approved legal products and services. The ‘Best of' survey is open to readers of the Journal. Survey winners are determined by popular vote. Founded in 2016 by Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola and David Isaac, JND has offices in Washington, California, Minnesota, New York and Washington, D.C.

Plunk

Bellevue-based Plunk, a mobile app using AI, machine learning, and computer vision to help homeowners increase their home's value, announced its launch. Plunk is led by tech, data science, and real estate industry veterans Brian Lent, David Bluhm, and Mike Shapiro. The Plunk app features include real-time valuation and recommendations of specific remodeling projects that will have the most impact on a home's value and provide the greatest returns. Plunk co-founder and CEO Lent has worked with companies such as Amazon, Nokia, IBM, and HERE Technologies. Bluhm, co-founder and president, has spent over three decades building and growing tech startups. Shapiro, investor and managing director at Plunk was the co-founder and CEO of HOM, which later merged with Pacific Sotheby's International Realty. As part of its initial rollout, Plunk will be available in the greater Seattle area.

Mar 10, 2021

Nelson Worldwide

Bowen

Nelson Worldwide, an architecture, design and strategy firm, hired Tom Bowen as vice president and market leader of the Seattle office. Bowen will expand the firm's efforts in the Pacific Northwest, bringing more than 20 years of experience in retail, mixed-use and commercial building practices. He has held senior leadership roles with JLL, The Irvine Company, FITCH (WWP) and Stantec. He was managing principal of global retail at CallisonRTKL for 15 years and was responsible for starting the firm's New York City design studio. At CallisonRTKL, he conceptualized projects such as the World Trade Center redevelopment, Coney Island, Beverly Center and REI. Brands he has worked with includes Nike, Best Buy, Nordstrom, T-Mobile and Levis.

Holmes Structures

Briggs

Holmes Structures hired Greg Briggs to lead its Seattle office. He has over 25 years in the Seattle area and has contributed to Puget Sound region projects that include the Seattle Museum of Flight - Space Gallery & Aviation Pavilion and the new Climate Pledge Arena. He has also worked on projects elsewhere in the U.S., including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion and the Teton Science School in Jackson, Wyoming. Holmes is a structural engineering firm.

HNTB Corp.

Trapani

Ralph Trapani joined HNTB Corp. as a senior project director in the Northwest division. Trapani has over 40 years of experience. He will work with the Bellevue office and support major transportation projects in the region. For the last 16 years he has been a senior program director for another engineering firm's transportation group, where he directed the pursuit and contract management for projects in the U.S. and Canada, including a study of Roaring Fork Valley's future mobility. Trapani also worked for the Colorado Department of Transportation for 27 years, serving as a program engineer managing megaprojects. HNTB is an infrastructure firm.

Merryman Barnes Architects

Palmer

Portland design firm Merryman Barnes Architects announced the transition of ownership from the original founders, Nancy Merryman and Linda Barnes, to Amy Palmer. Palmer, a principal, established her architecture career in the Portland-Metro area and has over 15 years of design and project management experience including design-build projects. Her career highlights in Portland include Port of Portland and TriMet projects and Bridgetown Apartments; Sun Valley Pavilion in Sun Valley, Idaho; and Rosa Parks Transit Center in Detroit, Michigan. She has worked in the multifamily, commercial, retail and hospitality sectors. Nancy Merryman said Palmer has strong leadership skills and a broad understanding of the industry which allows her to make insightful and effective decisions. “We are also thrilled that our legacy as an early, pioneering, women-owned firm will continue,” she said.

OAC Services

Jobs

Thiel

OAC Services promoted Todd Thiel to vice president and Dave Jobs to senior vice president. Thiel leads the firm's building sciences practice and has over 30 years of architectural experience in design, project and practice management. He has been instrumental in formulating OAC's CM Forward Design approach that brings construction intelligence forward into the design process and maintains design thinking throughout construction to create an integrated team. He works in Seattle and Olympia. Jobs has over 30 years of experience in the design and construction industry, with over 23 at OAC. He has been an ESCO contractor for several years and has worked with clients that include King County FMD and Metro, Snohomish County, Microsoft, Harborview Medical Center, the Port Authority of NY & NJ, Sound Transit, school districts and city agencies. He works in Everett, Seattle and Olympia.

Johnston Architects

Coleman

Cooper

Zellers

Theriault

Brems

Johnston Architects hired Alison Walker Brems as principal, and promoted Geneveive Theriault to principal and interior design manager, Mona Zellers to principal, and Harmony Cooper and Liz Wasson Coleman to associate. Brems has 27 years of experience. She left Johnston Architects as a principal in 2011 to found her own firm, Art | Architecture Brems, and rejoined JA in 2021. Brems has experience in historic structures and adaptive reuse projects. She is leading is quality assurance/quality control for the Auburn Arts & Cultural Center, an adaptive reuse of a historic post office, and a townhome development in Columbia City. Theriault is an architect and has interior architecture experience. She has a decade of experience in space planning and design for commercial tenant improvements, adaptive reuse, custom residential, multifamily and institutional projects. In her new role, she develops and oversees project schedules, budgets and quality control, and leads design projects. She is working on a residential remodel and addition in Laurelhurst and the apartments in the new Rainier Tower, as well as leading ADA upgrades at the Seattle Justice Center.

Zellers has 10 years of experience designing for the public sector, including adaptive reuse, renovations and additions, and ground-up education and health sciences projects in Washington. She is working on condo developments in Queen Anne and Capitol Hill and new libraries for the communities of Oak Lodge and Gladstone, Oregon, and is on a design team developing the concept for the new Seattle Public Utilities wastewater holding tank in Ballard. Cooper joined the firm in 2016 as a project designer with experience in retail, commercial, multifamily and custom residential projects. Now a licensed architect, he applies his 11 years of experience to a mix of project types. He is working on Winston Townhomes in Ravenna, the new Winthrop Public Library and homes in the Methow Valley, including a high-performing sustainable one being built with Design for Disassembly principles. Coleman has worked in the Pacific Northwest A/E/C industry for over 16 years. She leads marketing strategy and implementation for JA, applying her experience in operations, marketing and business development roles to strengthen the firm's public presence. She led the rollout of updated corporate branding and restructured JA's marketing processes, including proposals, award pursuits, social media and public relations. Johnston Architects offers architecture, interior design, master planning and technology-driven design solutions.

GLR Engineers

Rice

Povolny

Seawright

In Spokane, structural engineering firm GLR Engineers hired Nolan Seawright as a structural project engineer, Oldrich Povolny as a structural Revit designer and Steve Rice as a structural project manager. Seawright graduated from Gonzaga University in 2020. At GLR, he has worked on a new office building for Mt. Spokane Pediatrics in North Spokane and the Grant County FD #5 Multi-Agency Facility near Moses Lake. Povolny was with DCI Engineers. He has 20 years of design experience in an array of building types. He is working on the Coppercreek Landscaping expansion in North Spokane and a multifamily complex in Entiat. Rice graduated from Boise State University and is an licensed engineer in Idaho. He has nine years of experience in the structural engineering industry and previously worked at architectural and engineering firms in Boise. He is working on a multifamily project in Bellevue that has five levels of wood framing over three levels of elevated concrete.

Tres West Engineers

Chong

Tacoma-based Tres West Engineers promoted James Chong to associate principal. Chong is an electrical engineer who has experience in transportation, education, commercial and multifamily projects, including mid-rise and high-rise. His recent work includes Seattle Housing Authority Lam Bow Apartments, Pierce Transit building upgrades, Seattle Municipal Tower elevator modernization planning and projects for Sound Transit. Tres West provides MEP feasibility studies, design and engineering, construction administration and construction management.

City of Seattle

The city of Seattle's Department of Education & Early Learning is seeking an Early Learning Program Specialist who will monitor and assess the quality of child care and early learning programs that contract with the department. In addition, this person will provide technical assistance and training as needed to support programs in meeting the department's program quality standards. The city is accepting applications for this position until 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Additional information is available at governmentjobs.com/careers/seattle/jobs/2990732/early-learning-program-specialist.

Hunter Communications

Hunter Communications, a fiber-optic communications services provider in southern Oregon and northern California, has been awarded $19.2 million through the Federal Communication Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. Hunter will deploy 100% fiber-optic broadband networks to offer internet services to 5,771 underserved homes and businesses in rural Oregon and northern California communities. Founded in 1992, Hunter is headquartered in Medford.

Strike Graph

Seattle-based Strike Graph, a compliance automation startup, announced the launch of its new AI technology platform. The first feature on the new Strike Graph AI platform is the ability to answer each question on a company's security questionnaire based upon an organization's security habits and procedures. Launched in October 2020, Strike Graph was built to help companies successfully pass their cybersecurity audit. Strike Graph customers can scope the correct size audit, adjust controls, and complete and maintain a security certification with an internationally recognized auditor. For each security questionnaire, Strike Graph produces a unique security report that provides the answer for each question and a verification of the security activity to support the answer.