Aug 06, 2021

Banzai

Seattle-based Banzai promoted Ashley Levesque to vice president of marketing. When Banzai acquired webinar company Demio, it also added Levesque, who was Demio's director of marketing. After a few months, Banzai elevated Levesque to her new role. At Demio, Levesque started as an executive assistant, rising to senior executive. Banzai is a SaaS provider of engagement marketing solutions for virtual, in-person and hybrid events.

Windstar Cruises

Windstar Cruises hired Stijn Creupelandt, a 20-year veteran of the luxury cruise industry, as the small ship cruise line's vice president of hotel operations and product development. Creupelandt will be based in the company's new Miami headquarters and will work with newly promoted vice president of marine and technical operations Paul Barrett to manage all of the operations aboard Windstar's fleet of six yachts. Windstar announced earlier this year that the company will be moving its office from Seattle to Miami in June 2022, with some corporate positions moving to Denver and others operating remotely from the Seattle area. Creupelandt was most recently director of hotel services at Seabourn Cruise Line.

Hiya

Hiya announced Sarah Franklin, president and CMO at Salesforce, has joined its board of directors. Prior to becoming president and CMO, Franklin was executive vice president and general manager of Platform and AppExchange, where she led Salesforce's developer initiatives with a focus on democratizing technology. In her 13 years at Salesforce, Franklin has helped launch Trailhead, Salesforce's gamified online learning platform. Hiya also added Aaron Martin as chief financial officer and Bill McAleer as a board advisor. Martin brings experience in strategic growth, financial planning and analysis, and investor relations with several leading technology companies, including Yapta, which was acquired by Coupa Software in 2019. McAleer is managing director at Voyager Capital and brings a long track record of advising and investing in high growth startups. Hiya's Voice Performance Platform connects businesses with their customers, helps carriers secure their networks, and protects people from spam and fraud calls.

Hotel Andra

Curator Hotel & Resort Collection announced Hotel Andra, a luxury boutique property in downtown Seattle, has joined its collection of members. Hotel Andra is the second non-founding member hotel to join the collection following Inn at the Market, which joined in May. Hotel Andra's introduction to Curator coincides with its upcoming reopening following the completion of renovations, including replacement of all furnishings, HVAC systems and a modernization of the guest elevators. Curator is a collection of hand-selected small brands and independent lifestyle hotels and resorts worldwide, founded by Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and seven industry-leading hotel operators. Curator provides lifestyle hotels the power to compete together while allowing its members the freedom to retain what makes their hotels unique. Pebblebrook is a publicly traded real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of urban and resort lifestyle hotels in the United States.

Aug 05, 2021

Emerald hits 50% benchmark in condo sales

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Create World's Emerald condominium tower, which now goes by 121 Stewart St., was completed last fall, with pre-sales well underway. Now broker Polaris Pacific has announced that 50% of its 262 units have been sold. Prices start in the $500,000s and run all the way up to a nearly $11 million penthouse. Smaller units range from one- to three-bedrooms. Hewitt designed the 40-story tower, with Andersen Construction as the general contractor. Daniels Real Estate was an early partner, before exiting the project during construction, which began in 2017.

NAIOP event at 2+U

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Tuesday, Aug. 24 will be the date and Skanska's 2+U the venue for NAIOP's networking event dubbed “Change Makers.” The event convenes at 3 p.m. on the Urban Village level within the tower's stilted base. Speakers will include Donald Davies of Magnusson Klemencic Assoc., Nate Jenkins of Mortenson, Mitch Warren of Kalesnikoff Mass Timber and Mike Weeks of Stoneway Concrete. Details and registration: naiopwa.org.

Duke plans more logistics investment

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Duke Realty is a big player in logistics. Back in February, it paid about $221 million for the Cubes at DuPont logistics center. More such investments are planned, and its Oakland office announced the hiring of four new executives who'll be active in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Those are Janet Galvez, Tom Jodry, Jason Bernstein and Kathleen Andrade. Duke's Drew Hess said in a statement, “Over the past two years, we have invested heavily in growing our Northern California and Seattle portfolio to 7 million square feet of rentable space, and we continue to focus on infill development and acquisition opportunities.”

Tarragon breaks ground on 420 Kitsap units

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Tarragon announced that it has begun work on two apartment project in Kitsap County. The first is the 204-unit Camber in Bremerton. The second is the 216-unit Haven in Port Orchard. Both are slated for completion in 2022. The effort marks Tarragon's first foray into Kitsap. The company's Brianne Kelsey said in a statement, “With a portfolio that includes high-quality apartment communities, we are excited to show off our talent and experience in Kitsap County. Coupled with meeting the needs of a growing demand for housing in Port Orchard and Bremerton, we are thrilled to see Camber and Haven come to life.”

StoryBuilt nears completion in Ravenna

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StoryBuilt, of Austin, has a number of local projects in varying stages of planning and construction. Nearing completion and ready to sell its individual homes is a townhouse project at 6556 Ravenna Ave. N.E. That's right next to Ravenna-Eckstein Park, and perhaps a 16-minute walk west to Roosevelt Station, where light rail service begins in October. The project is dubbed Winston, with its 16 units already 50% pre-sold. Prices start at around $1.2 million. StoryBuilt's Ben Rutkowski said in a statement, “We are thrilled with the modern architectural design of Winston, and believe the Seattle market is going to love the location, open floor plans and energy-efficient features that StoryBuilt has come to be known for.”

StoryBuilt served as its own general contractor. Johnston Architects designed the three-story complex, which has shared underground parking.

Central Washington University

The Central Washington University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Robert Nellams as its new chair. The 1982 CWU College of Business alum began his six-year term on the board in 2015 and previously served as vice chair under outgoing president Ronald Erickson. Aside from his role on the board, Nellams is the director of the Seattle Center, where he manages a staff of 240 full-time employees and more than 650 intermittent staff. He also is the former chair of the CWU Foundation Board. In addition, Nellams has been an active member of the Breakfast Group, a Seattle-based nonprofit service organization devoted to mentoring African-American and other low-income and at-risk young men of color. He currently serves on the group's board of directors as chair of the fundraising committee. The board also voted to install Ray Conner, former vice chairman for The Boeing Co., as its new vice chair. Conner graduated from CWU in 1979 and joined the board in 2018. Erickson was chair of the board from 2018-21, and has more than 35 years of experience as an attorney and entrepreneur, leading a number of technology enterprises in the global marketplace.

First Interstate Bank

First Interstate Bank has hired Patrick Kennedy as a commercial relationship manager. Kennedy will be responsible for developing and growing new business and maintaining and strengthening existing relationships. With more than 30 years of experience in banking, Kennedy holds a BA in Political Science from Kent State, an MBA from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He serves as the president of the board of directors for the Whidbey Camano Land Trust and on several committees for the Goosefoot Community Fund. First Interstate is headquartered in Billings, Montana, and offers banking and wealth management services throughout Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota and Wyoming.

FCS GROUP

Melanie Hobart, who joined FCS GROUP in 2016, has been promoted to project manager. In addition to providing financial analysis and rate modeling for water, sewer, electric and solid waste utilities, Hobart also performs policy and regulatory analyses for public utilities and special purpose districts. Prior to joining FCS GROUP, Hobart maintained her own consulting practice, in addition to previously working with two other management consulting firms. Hobart has been supporting clients throughout the Western United States with projects in Colorado, Washington, Arizona and Idaho. FCS GROUP, established in 1998, specializes in utility rates and charges, utility management, general government finance, and economic services, and is headquartered in Redmond.