Nov 03, 2022

Northmarq does three deals worth $57M

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Northmarq recently announced a trio of notable deals. Up in Everett, the firm's Scott Moline and Bob Spiro arranged an $8.3 million refinancing package for the Seaway Ridge office and industrial building, at 1930 Merrill Creek Parkway. That 1996 building is fully leased to three tenants, says Northmarq. Said Moline of the 10-year, interest-only note, “We were able to provide competitive loan terms with a quick rate lock process, which was critical at this point in the market.” And down in Sumner, in a two-step process, Jake Leibsohn arranged $13.2 million in new equity provided by PCCP to stack atop the accompanying $35.5 million construction loan, also arranged by Northmarq. The borrower and developer is local shop Timberlane Partners, which is planning an unnamed low-rise development with 162 units and 250 parking stalls. Construction began in September, under architect Casey + DeChant and Rush Construction. Completion is anticipated in the fall of next year. Timberlane's Dave Enslow said in a statement, “I grew up in the house across the street from the site, so this is a very special project for me personally. I'm glad I could be a small part of bringing more housing to this great community.” The address couldn't be verified. Northmarq says the project is about 1.5 miles east of the Sumner Transit Station.

ULI marches through ID

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The affordable housing project dubbed Uncle Bob's Place is nearing completion in the International District, and that'll be one of the stops for ULI Northwest's walking tour next Thursday. It's associated with the separate Emerging Trends confab, also held that day, at the nearby Embassy Suites. (There's separate registration for both.) The tour begins with lunch at Uwajimaya Food Hall, then eventually leads back to the main ULI gathering. A representative from Mithun, the architect behind Uncle Bob's, will be on hand to discuss that project, which is being developed by the InterIm Community Development Association. It replaced the old Four Seas restaurant. Details and registration: northwest.uli.org.

Pillar Financial Group

Northwestern Mutual announced that Trudy Leen and her two-person team have joined Seattle-based Pillar Financial Group, part of Northwestern Mutual's Private Client Group. Coming from Gateway Financial Partners with LPL Financial, Leen and her team officially joined Pillar Financial Group on Oct. 27. With over 30 years of experience in the finance industry, Leen has expertise in financial planning, wealth management, investment services, legacy building and insurance programs. In addition to Leen, Ashley Scribner and Dara Fogg will join the office as service coordinators. Pillar Financial Group now has offices in Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, and Sandpoint and Priest River, Idaho. Northwestern Mutual provides life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, and brokerage and advisory services.

City of Tacoma

The city of Tacoma's Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness document is now available online at http://www.cityoftacoma.org/homelessness. Neighborhood and Community Services Homeless Services team presented its strategy document for ending homelessness to City Council on Sept. 29. The plan recognizes that ending homelessness in Tacoma will require short-term and long-range efforts built on public-private partnerships to address immediate needs like shelter, while also addressing housing affordability. In the proposed 2023-2024 biennium budget, there is a requested allocation of approximately $34.1 million for homelessness services and programs. The city allocated $19.5 million to homeless services in the 2021-2022 biennium to provide homelessness services and programs including emergency shelter, case management, job training, mental health services, domestic violence services, food banks and other supportive services. Additionally, the city invested $26 million in one-time COVID resources to address issues of homeless prevention through rental assistance and building additional shelter.

ATS Automation

ATS Automation, an independent, smart building controls provider, acquired Advanced Automation Systems, headquartered in Tampa, Florida. This purchase will enable the ATS Companies' continued growth in the Southeast region of the United States and provide increased capabilities and support for national account clients. Advanced Automation Systems will be incorporated into the ATS Waypoint business, which will focus on providing building automation solutions in Georgia and Florida. Established in 1986, ATS is headquartered in Renton.

Marchex

Seattle-based Marchex received APPEALIE's 2022 SaaS Customer Success Award as part of the 2022 APPEALIE SaaS Awards. Marchex received the award for the use of its conversation intelligence capabilities to go “above and beyond” in helping a national computer repair and support services company that relies heavily on phone calls to land new customers and drive new business in a competitively accelerating space. This is the second consecutive APPEALIE award for Marchex, as the company received the Overall SaaS Award in the Analytics + Business Intelligence Category of the 2021 awards. The APPEALIE SaaS Awards honor customer-obsessed SaaS platforms and success stories that deliver extraordinary experiences and results.

Nov 02, 2022

Perteet

Riemann

Infrastructure and engineering consulting firm Perteet has welcomed Paul Riemann, PE, as the firm's new infrastructure director. Based out of Perteet's Seattle office, Riemann will lead the firm's ferry, port, and transit markets. He has over 32 years of experience supporting public sector clients, including spending the last seven years working for Sound Transit. As Sound Transit's engineering manager for storm drainage and utilities, he programmatically managed the associated design elements for the agency's $55 billion system expansion program, including large light rail projects such as Lynnwood Link Extension, East Link Extension, and Federal Way Link Extension. Paul has successfully delivered dozens of planning and engineering projects for local maritime, port, and utility agencies.

WJA Design Collaborative

Heit

Treat

Suhadolnik

Price

Callan

Killmer

WJA Design Collaborative announced the retirement of principal Dan Callan, AIA, LEED AP. Callan has been the principal of WJA-dc since 2000. He officially announced his retirement this year. With Callan's retirement, Eliot Price, RA, LEED AP BD+C has been named principal. Price is an architect and project manager with over 21 years of experience. He has specialized expertise in high performance buildings including dormitories and secure administrative, operations and training facilities for the Department of Defense. He joins WJA-dc's two remaining principals, Greg Nespor, AIA and Todd St. George, PE, SE.

In addition to naming a new principal, WJA-dc has also recognized a new group of associates within the firm; Matt Suhadolnik, Clint Treat, Doug Heit and Alyssa Killmer. Suhadolnik, PLA, LEED AP is a professional landscape architect and LEED Accredited Professional with 38 years of experience who brings a strong background in site planning, restoration, and low-impact development for public and private sectors with emphasis on sustainable site design. He has a wide range of project management and design experience that includes federal, municipal and community facilities, transit facilities, streetscapes, college campus additions and renovations, multi-family residential, sports fields and regional parks.

Treat, AIA is an architect with over 14 years of experience in a range of project types including private residences, dormitories, hospitality, and administrative and training facilities for a variety of clients including the Department of Defense, state and local agencies, and the private sector.

Heit, PE, SE is a professional structural engineer who has been with WJA-dc for over 28 years. He has extensive experience engineering complex federal facilities throughout the United States, ranging from multi-family mid-rise housing to mission-critical operations buildings.

Killmer is a marketing professional with over 10 years of leadership experience in the industry. She has been managing and executing WJA-dc's marketing efforts since their re-emergence in 2014 and is a key contributor to the firm's success the past 8 years.

WJA-dc provides comprehensive design services with specialized experience in the fields of architecture, structural engineering, landscape architecture/planning, and sustainable design.

WiSA Technologies

WiSA Technologies, a developer of spatial, wireless sound technology for smart devices and next-generation home entertainment systems, is moving forward in its exploration of strategic alternatives to consider a wide range of options for the company. To explore strategic opportunities specifically involving the company's IP and licensable software used in WiSA E and WiSA DS technologies, the board of directors approved the engagement of AQ Technology Partners during the third quarter to assist in this process. To date, four companies have executed NDAs in consideration of a potential transaction. WiSA Technologies, with its advisors, is evaluating a broad range of strategic transactions. Potential strategic transactions that may be explored or evaluated as part of this process include the potential for capital raising transactions, an acquisition, sale of assets, including substantially all of the company's assets, merger, business combination, partnership, joint venture, licensing and/or another strategic alternative. Despite devoting efforts to identify and evaluate potential strategic transactions, the process may not result in any definitive offer to consummate a strategic transaction. WiSA Technologies does not expect to disclose developments with respect to this process unless or until the evaluation of strategic alternatives has been completed or the board of directors has concluded disclosure is appropriate or legally required. WiSA Technologies is headquartered in Beaverton, OR.

ATREG

ATREG announced that the acquisition of onsemi's operational manufacturing fab located in Pocatello, Idaho, by LA Semiconductor has officially closed. Established in 2022 by Tallmadge, OH-based Linear ASICS, LA Semiconductor is the newest U.S.-owned and -operated, fully operational semiconductor foundry for analog, mixed signal, and power products. The Pocatello fab is located on a 33-acre campus with over 50,000 square feet of cleanroom space and over 550,000 square feet of building space. Headquartered in Seattle, ATREG specializes in helping global companies divest and acquire infrastructure-rich advanced technology manufacturing assets, including front-end and back-end semiconductor fabs, cleanroom facilities, and technology campuses in North America, Europe, and Asia.