Oct 14, 2025

Wilson Elser

Building on recent growth in the Pacific Northwest, national law firm Wilson Elser has added 17 attorneys to its Seattle office, including eight new partners. “The Pacific Northwest is the fastest-growing region for the firm,” said Daniel J. McMahon, chair of Wilson Elser. “Since 2023, Wilson Elser has steadily added headcount and expanded the defense services for clients with work in Washington and Oregon. In fact, including this new team, we have hired 31 lateral attorneys in our Seattle and Portland offices in 2025.” Mary Butler, Lorianne Hanson, Nicole Jackson, Dan Mooney, Daniel Park, John Versnel, Evelyn Winters, and Steven Wraith join as partners. Penn Gheen joins as of counsel, and Fatima Al-Rikabi, Alec Anderson, Natasha Fingar, Maryam Nayibova, Rachel O'Hanlon, Corinna Pilat, Tim Rosewell, and Sara Shapland as associates. The new attorneys specialize in litigating matters across various practice areas, including toxic tort, construction, aviation, medical malpractice, product liability, and admiralty and marine law, and were previously with litigation firms in the region.

Trefethen & Co Bader & Olson

Cadogan Tate, a specialist in high-value storage and logistics for interiors and art handling, has acquired Trefethen & Co Bader & Olson, a Seattle-based firm specializing in furniture receiving, warehousing, delivery and installation. This is Cadogan Tate's seventh acquisition since being acquired by TSG Consumer, a private equity firm specializing in consumer brands. This strategic acquisition aligns with Cadogan Tate's commitment to delivering integrated, end-to-end services across art, furniture and interiors, and strengthens Cadogan Tate's position as a global provider with a physical presence in the Pacific Northwest. The combined entity will offer clients a streamlined, unified experience underpinned by domain expertise, and the operational scale to support complex, multidisciplinary projects. Whether for private residences, architectural fit-outs, galleries or corporate environments, this union allows clients to partner with a single provider spanning art handling, interiors and furniture logistics and installation services. Perkins Coie provided legal counsel to Cadogan Tate. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With almost half a century of experience, Cadogan Tate specializes in fine-asset logistics: art handling, packing, transport, storage and installation services for museums, galleries, private collections, designers and high net worth clients. In addition to Seattle, the company maintains operations in global markets, including London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Aspen, Miami and Paris.

Oct 09, 2025

NAIOPWA lauds its legends

Photo by Lara Swimmer [enlarge]

South Lake Union Discovery Center

For members of NAIOP Washington, on Oct. 23, there's to be a meet-and-mingle gathering for those wanting to buttonhole its “legends and leaders.” The Thursday event is set for 4 p.m. at the South Lake Union Discovery Center. Eminent industry figures on hand will include Tony Toppenberg of Hudson Pacific Properties, John Teutsch of Teutsch Partners, John Pietromonaco of Pietromonaco Jackson Properties, Rob Aigner (now semi-retired and a consultant) and Chris Rossman from Fourth Avenue Capital. That's a lot of industry history, and collective wisdom, in one room. Details and info: naiopwa.org

Continental Properties

Hynes

Claudio Guincher has been the longtime leader at Continental Properties, a firm his father once helmed, and he isn't going away. Rather, he's ceding his role as president, with Kyran Hynes now being promoted to that position. Hynes has been with the firm for about seven years, and counts nearly two decades in the multifamily sector. He notably helped lead the recent development of the 110 Roy apartments in Lower Queen Anne. Continental estimates that 110 Roy, the Vela in Kirkland and Bellevue's Margot (formerly the Blu) contribute to about $1 billion in assets and some 1,350 units — both new and renovated — in Continental's portfolio.

SoDo enterprise finds UK owner

[enlarge]

When a small SoDo warehouse sold four years ago for a bit over $3 million, the DJC called its new owner a furniture company. That's not exactly correct. The business known as Trefethen & Co. Bader & Olson, aka Trefethen, is a specialist in high-end furniture logistics and storage. We make that distinction because the building and business are now part of Cadogan Tate, which recently announced the acquisition. Based in London, that international enterprise provides “integrated, end-to-end services across art, furniture and interiors.” Its Ben Clark said in a statement, “With Trefethen's esteemed presence in the Pacific Northwest and expertise in moving and furniture handling, we are now able to offer clients a clear advantage, not only through our broadened geographic reach, but also by delivering a consistent standard of excellence across art, interiors and installations worldwide.” Perkins Coie advised Cadogan Tate on the deal. Terms were not announced. The warehouse is at 3430 E. Marginal Way S., just north of the Spokane Street Viaduct.

Forma Construction

Munson

Forma Construction principal and vice president of risk management Jace Munson retired, effective Sept. 30, marking the conclusion of a 30-year career with Forma. Since joining in 1995, Munson has guided the company through significant growth, operational transformation, and hundreds of complex projects that have positively impacted communities throughout the region. “Jace's expertise in contract administration through the lens of risk management has been invaluable to Forma's success,” said Eric Lindstrom, COO. “His deep understanding of construction law, insurance requirements, and contract negotiations has made him a recognized industry expert. He brings a ‘stick to the facts' approach that's both fair and impartial — exactly what complex construction projects demand.” Throughout his career with Forma, including previous leadership roles as president and COO, Munson successfully managed multiple projects, including multiple renovations at his alma mater Capital High School in Olympia, North Thurston High School's occupied modernization, projects at Saint Martin's University including Cebula Hall, O'Grady Library, and Old Main, historic renovations on the state Capitol Campus including the John L O'Brien and John A. Cherberg Buildings, and the SAMi Environmental Learning Center at Point Defiance. Munson volunteers with the Thurston Economic Development Council, Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County, South Sound YMCA, Olympia Rotary Club, and was a past board member of South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity. Forma Construction specializes in K-12 education, public works, and complex renovation projects. Founded in 1985, Forma maintains offices in Olympia, Seattle and Bellingham.

Smartsheet

Singh

Bellevue-based Smartsheet named industry veteran Rajeev Singh as its new chief executive officer and member of the board of directors. Singh succeeds Sunny Gupta, who has served as acting CEO since July and will continue in his role as executive chair of the board. Singh has a history of building and scaling highly successful technology companies, including Concur and Accolade. He joins Smartsheet to lead the company into its next phase of accelerated growth and innovation.

Oct 08, 2025

Otak

Kessler

Otak recently brought on Dan Kessler as its new director of architecture. With nearly three decades of design leadership, Kessler's career includes leadership roles at organizations ranging from DLR Group to Fentress Architects, as well as the founding of his own practice, Element Design Works. His portfolio includes many project types and scales, from LAX Airport to multifamily housing. In addition to his professional work, Kessler served for 11 years as an Honorarium Instructor at the University of Colorado, his alma mater.

Architects West

Jorgensen

McGilley

Architects West of Coeur d'Alene recently hired Amanda McGilley and Brennan Jorgensen.

Originally from Spokane, McGilley, joins as a billing and resource specialist, bringing more than 22 years of experience in accounting, bookkeeping and payroll for professional services firms.

Jorgensen was hired as an architectural designer. Born in north Idaho, Jorgensen, has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Idaho and has more than five years of experience in both residential and commercial design projects. Jorgensen joins the design team working on modernization projects for Lakeland School District and a new AgWest Farm Credit office.

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates

O'Brien

Zhou

Murray

Smith

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) Seattle celebrates its first year at its new office in Pioneer Square and announces the additions of the following team members: Jenn Smith, Erik Murray, Vicky Zhou, and Danny O'Brien.

Smith joins the team as administrative associate III following nearly seven years with the San Antonio unit. She previously worked as a legal assistant/case manager for a law firm in San Antonio and was active with San Antonio's Women in Architecture and SMPS San Antonio. She continues her participation with SMPS in Seattle.

Principal Murray has been named unit manager of the Seattle office. He also comes from the San Antonio office but joined WJE in 2008 as a senior associate in the Austin office. He was promoted to associate principal in 2014, unit manager in 2017, and principal in 2021. A University of Texas at Austin graduate, with degrees in architecture and architectural engineering, Murray specializes in roof systems and building enclosures, building investigation and repair, and architectural peer review.

Zhou and O'Brien joined as associates, specializing in architectural and structural engineering, respectively. Zhou holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Architectural Engineering from the University of Waterloo and held internships with Morrison Hershfield (now Stantec) and RDH Building Science. O'Brien completed graduate studies at Oregon State University, following internships with WJE Seattle and WJE Portland.

Rock Project Management Services

Bryant

Rock Project Management Services has promoted Kristen Bryant to business manager. Previously, Bryant was Rock's grants administrator, where she helped public clients secure millions in funding over the past two years. In her new role, she will oversee Rock's business operations, including resource planning, contracts and financial coordination. Rock is a family-owned, certified MWBE firm based in Renton, providing capital program, project, and construction management services to K-12 school districts, municipalities, ports, transportation and utilities across the region.

APSCO

DXP Enterprises has completed its acquisition of APSCO. Founded in 1986, APSCO is headquartered in Redmond, servicing Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming and surrounding markets. APSCO is a manufacturer's representative of pumps, controls and process equipment focused on the water and wastewater industry. DXP funded the acquisition with cash from the balance sheet. Kent Yee, chief financial officer, stated, “We are very excited to have APSCO as a part of DXP. We are excited to welcome APSCO's talented and hardworking employees to the DXP team. We continue to execute on our strategy of making acquisitions in markets and business models where we can continue to enhance DXP. APSCO complements our recent focus on water and wastewater acquisitions and provides us with a meaningful presence in the Pacific Northwest and broader western U.S. region.” DXP Enterprises is a products and service distributor serving industrial customers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Dubai, providing pumping solutions, supply chain services and maintenance, repair, operating and production services.