Apr 07, 2023

King County Library System

Yamasaki

The King County Library System (KCLS) Foundation hired Lisa Yamasaki as executive director. She will lead fundraising, development and outreach efforts, and will report to the KCLS Foundation board of directors. Prior to joining the KCLS Foundation, Yamasaki served as the director of development for Encompass, a nonprofit organization that partners with families to build a healthy foundation for children of all abilities. She has also worked as a corporate affiliates associate at the University of Washington and a special events manager at Childhaven. Yamasaki volunteers at the Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank and serves on the City of Snoqualmie Community Center advisory committee. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication from Western Washington University.

Symetra

Girard

Byrne

Symetra appointed Kevin Byrne and Thomas Girard to its board of directors. The appointments were effective March 31, 2023. Byrne retired from Pacific Life in January 2022. From 2018 to 2021, he served as chief executive officer of Pacific Global Asset Management, and from 2012 to 2017, he was senior vice president and chief financial officer for Pacific Life's Retirement Solutions Division. Prior to Pacific Life, Byrne spent over 20 years with Equitable Life Insurance, ultimately serving as executive vice president and chief investment officer for AXA Equitable Life Insurance, with responsibility for the strategy and oversight of insurance investment portfolios, corporate finance, and corporate treasurer. He is a member of the board of directors for New York Community Trust, serving as chair of the Investment Committee. Girard retired in 2018 as the chief investment officer, fixed income, for NYL Investors, a wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company. He oversaw the management of $145 billion in fixed income assets and was responsible for setting investment strategy and overseeing risk management of all fixed income portfolios. He was a member of NYL Investors board of directors and senior leadership team and was responsible for providing annual reviews to the Investment Committee of the New York Life board of directors as well as credit rating agencies. Prior to joining NYL Investors, Girard served as a managing director and head of fixed income for Robeco Investment Management, Weiss Peck & Greer. He is a member of the advisory board at Hollow Brook Wealth Management, and formerly served as an advisory board member at Schultze Asset Management, and at the Fixed Income Forum.

Emerald Communities

Wood

Emerald Communities announced the promotion of Michelle Wood from corporate controller to vice president of operations. Wood will provide leadership and strategic and daily operational support to the executive directors at Emerald Heights and Heron's Key. She will ensure proper management, planning, organization evaluation, and control in all operating departments for each community. She will also oversee Emerald Communities' director of food and beverage services and serve as Emerald Communities' corporate risk and compliance officer. This is the first time in Emerald Communities' history to have a women-led and operated executive team. Wood joined the Emerald Communities leadership team in 2013 as the corporate controller. In 2020, her role expanded to oversee accounting and information systems. Wood earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Seattle University where she is now pursuing an MBA. Emerald Communities is a nonprofit senior housing and service organization that has been serving seniors at its resort-style Life Plan communities, including Emerald Heights in Redmond and Heron's Key in Gig Harbor.

Apr 06, 2023

Foster Garvey

Kyle

Tina Kyle joined Foster Garvey as a Seattle-based principal in the Municipal, Health & Housing practice, where she will focus on the federal income tax aspects of public finance transactions. Prior to joining Foster Garvey, Kyle was a partner at Houston-based Allen Boone Humphries Robinson. She has more than two decades of experience advising governmental issuers, 501(c)(3) organizations, private borrowers, and other public finance transaction participants on tax-advantaged financings. Kyle's experience includes reviewing, structuring, and advising on tax-exempt financing transactions ranging from less than $1 million to more than $700 million involving governmental, tax-exempt and private business users. A member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, she has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America in Public Finance Law annually since 2013. Kyle earned her J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law. Foster Garvey has offices on both coasts, and offers an extended national and international reach to serve companies, government entities, and individuals across a full spectrum of legal services.

98-9 KPNW

Fisher

New Hubbard radio station, Seattle 98.9 KPNW, announced the first addition to its on-air line-up. John Fisher will air each weekday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting April 8. Fisher has been a Seattle radio mainstay for almost 30 years since arriving from Chicago in the early 1990s to join 103.7 The Mountain. Started in 1923, Hubbard Broadcasting is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hubbard Broadcasting operates radio stations and television stations in 10 states. Scott Mahalick is the Hubbard Seattle operations manager.

Factor

As the company celebrates its 10-year anniversary, Factor appointed veteran consulting executive, Gwen Hall, as its first-ever CEO. Hall joins Factor after more than 20 years with global consulting firm Point B. Hall takes the leadership reins from co-founders, Bram Wessel and Gary Carlson, and will focus on developing and implementing strategic growth and brand building initiatives as the company moves into its second decade. Hall will be based in Seattle. Hall is also the co-owner of a home services company and a Sniffspott host, enabling dogs and their owners to have a safe place to roam. Factor is an information architecture consultancy that helps organizations extract value from their data, content, and information.

Marchex

Seattle-based Marchex, an AI-powered conversation intelligence company, hired Troy Hartless as chief revenue officer. Hartless has extensive experience as an executive officer for both private and publicly traded technology companies, and will lead Marchex's sales, marketing, business development, solutions consulting and customer success organizations. Most recently, Hartless was COO of Govplace, a cloud, cybersecurity, and perimeter security solutions company. Previously, he served as CRO of Callis Communications. Hartless also served as the COO of InfoData.

New tenant for Panattoni

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Panattoni broke ground last summer on the 310-acre Fred310 industrial development near Frederickson, in Pierce County. That's on land acquired from Boeing, near 18001 Canyon Road E. Cushman & Wakefield is brokering the intial five buildings, and it recently announced a new tenant. Harbor Freight Tools is taking 782,875 square feet in a build-to-suit structure. C&W's Scott Alan, Patrick Mullin and Connor Cree represented the developer and financial partner Crow Holdings Capital. Alan said in a statement, “We are excited to add Harbor Freight as another significant and high-caliber brand to the project's growing roster of quality tenants.” The initial five buildings of Phase I will total some 3.1 million square feet. All will have lots of dock-high and grade-level doors, with clear heights ranging from 36 to 40 feet, plus lots of parking. Said Panattoni's Travis Hale, “We are thrilled at the level and quality of leasing activity and the rising interest we continue to attract at Fred310.”

Gantry secures $53M for Yesler Terrace units

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Up at Yesler Terrace, Vulcan Real Estate completed the 237-unit Cypress over three years ago. Now Gantry has announced a new a new permanent financing package for the apartments, worth about $53.5 million. The unnamed lender was BECU. Gantry's Michael Taylor and Alex Saunders secured the five-year, fixed-rate loan, working in conjunction with Russ Cree of Glacier Real Estate Finance. Taylor said in a statement, “In this financing, we reviewed the full spectrum of options, including other bank, life company and agency sources. Ultimately a credit union was able to provide a loan with the structure, pricing and flexibility that best met the borrower's needs.” Cypress was built by Exxel Pacific, and designed by Runberg Architecture Group. Vulcan is now underway on its 345-unit Cascara, its fourth project at Yesler Terrace.

CBRE sells Montana hotels

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Two hotels over in Missoula, Montana have changed hands. CBRE announced the related deals, with its Chris Burdett and Matthew Behrens having represented seller HomeBase Partners of Bozeman. Terms were not announced. The seller developed both the 105-room AC Hotel and 175-room Residence Inn in recent years; included in the latter's sale is a retail complex called The Mercantile. Both hotels carry the Marriott brand. The buyers were Evermore Partners and New Castle Hotels & Resorts. Burdett is based here in Seattle, and said in a statement, “We were thrilled to provide an attractive solution for both parties. Despite economic headwinds and a tight lending environment, we were able to work with the buyer, seller and Stockman Bank to help execute the sale.”

Kidder Mathews

Ksidakis

Kidder Mathews announced the recent hiring of retail specialist Parker Ksidakis. He makes the move from CBRE. He said in a statement, “My decision to join Kidder Mathews was strongly influenced by the entrepreneurial culture and ability to continue to reinvest into my business to achieve outstanding client results. That, paired with the opportunity to become a shareholder, made the decision easy.” Much of his recent work has been focused on single-tenant, net-leased properties and multi-tenant retail both in our state and in Oregon.

NAIOP previews The Lex

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The South Sound chapter of NAIOP will offer a tour of the brand-new Lex apartments in Tacoma, beginning at 4 p.m. April 27. The 247-unit, nine-story project at 415 St. Helens Ave., a little north of downtown, was developed by Commencement Bay Development, whose Eric Cederstrand, Lia Estigoy and Brad Nakamura will be on hand. Ferguson Architecture designed the Lex, and its Ben Ferguson, Steffany Tuohy and Jamie Sandberg will also attend. Pillar Properties was also a partner in the project. Details and registration: naiopwa.org.

Heartland

Tuesley

Bruce Tuesley has joined Heartland, that firm recently announced. He makes the move from BentallGreenOak. He'll be an asset manager in his new perch, working from Heartland's downtown Seattle offices. The firm praised his “strong asset management and transactional experience” and ability “to address complex real estate issues and achieve client objectives.”

CBB opens Mill Creek office

Late last month, Coldwell Banker Bain held a ribbon snipping ceremony for its new residential brokerage office up in Mill Creek. CBB President Robert Burns held the scissors, and said in a statement, “I know the addition of this office location will be an extraordinary place for them to collaborate, network and help their clients reach their home ownership goals.” Emma Nolan will run the office, and added, “We look forward to being the Snohomish County hub. We are excited to have a larger presence in the region to serve our clients and customers.”