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November 13, 2025
Night of the Stars: Let's recap the winners!
By BRIAN MILLER
Real Estate Editor
Real Estate Editor
NAIOP Washington's annual Night of the Stars awards were bestowed last Friday at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue.
Below is a recap of this year's special awards, people and projects. See NAIOP's own dedicated website (https://naiop-wa.secure-platform.com) for all the nominees and winners.
AWARDS
Developer of the Year: Skanska USA. The builder and developer began leasing its 324-unit Kaye apartments, in Belltown, this year. And in Bellevue, The Eight office tower has Pokemon as the majority tenant for those 540,000 square feet. Steps away, it's also preparing a mass-timber office companion, dubbed Bevel.
Judges' Choice Award, urban impact: Ocean Pavilion. LMN designed the handsome new addition to Waterfront Park, which was built by Turner. And upstairs is the equally popular new Overlook Walk. (There's also an elevator up from Alaskan Way.)
Judges' Choice, housing innovations: Shared Roof. Local investors, including developer Chad Dale, put their nickels together to fund the Greenwood mixed-use project. Not quite a co-op, it's co-op-adjacent, with some investors living in the 35 units upstairs. Downstairs are the restaurant Lioness, Holy Mountain Tap Room and other commercial tenants. Johnston Architects worked with BNBuilders on the project.
People's Choice Award: Ballard Spahr Lane Powell offices. The recently combined law firm, now with a much longer name, occupies two floors at the Russell Investments Center. Architect NBBJ and DPR Construction were responsible for the build-out.
PEOPLE
Hall of Fame, new inductee: John Teutsch. The founder of Teutsch Partners LLC, he's been a major industry figure for nearly four decades. His recent projects include the Ivy Apartments in Interbay. Neighborhood favorites include the conversions of Wallingford Center and Queen Anne High School to apartments.
Industrial Broker: CBRE's Andrew Hitchcock. Among his current listings is the Canyon Point Industrial Center, now underway, with 584,006 square feet in Frederickson.
Office Broker: Michael Dash of CBRE, a specialist in tenant representation and corporate account services.
Retail Broker: Newmark's Billy Sleeth, who helped sell Pier 70 earlier this year. (Remember when that was a location for MTV's The Real World?)
Multifamily Broker: Eli Hanacek. He and his CBRE cohort recently helped Holland Partner Group sell Bothell's Villas at Beardslee for $177 million, one of the largest multifamily deals this year.
Investment Broker: CBRE's Brett Hartzell. Only last month, with colleague Chris Reeves, he sold a newly developed Panattoni logistics building in Burien for $67 million, with LaSalle Investment Management being the buyer.
Rising Star Broker: Kyle Back of Colliers works in the industrial sector. Among his current listings is a 10-acre development site in Frederickson, with all permits in place.
Medical Office Broker: CBRE's Marcus Yamamoto has helped land significant life-sci tenants at both 222 Fifth and 330 Yale.
PROJECTS
Affordable Housing: Beacon Pacific Village. Immediately north of Beacon Hill's landmarked Pacific Tower, those initial 160 affordable units came from the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda), architect Weber Thompson and builder Marpac. The future Phase II will eventually add another 110 units.
Community Impact Development: Connections Health Solutions is a 24/7 behavioral health crisis center in the Totem Lake area of Kirkland. It filled 45,000 square feet in an old office building, with Stantec the architect and Skyline Construction the builder.
Historic Renovation of the Year: Ferguson Architecture and builder Rush Cos. started with a low-slung old commercial building on the west side of downtown Tacoma (Hilltop, if you prefer), then converted it to chic modern offices now housing both Ferguson and Swenson Say Faget.
Hotel/Hospitality Development/Renovation: The Populus Seattle hotel, in Pioneer Square, is part of the larger RailSpur project from Urban Villages. Architect Miller Hull and JTM Construction converted the over century-old office building into a 120-room boutique hotel, with rooftop bar. The interior greenery came from local landscape designer Camden Gardens.
Industrial Speculative Development: Up in Bothell, the North Creek Commerce Center broke ground in late 2023. From Panattoni Development, three buildings are to have about 236,981 square feet. Nelson designed the project, with Foushee the builder and Kidder Mathews the broker.
Industrial Build-to-Suit Development: As the DJC reported three years ago, Building C at Panattoni's Fred310 project went to Floor & Decor, with over 1.1 million square feet. Alston Construction was the builder, working with Architectural Design Guild (of Missouri). The entire Frederickson-area development is to have over 4 million square feet.
Mixed-Use Development: Avenue Bellevue. The 365 condos are selling at this hotel-retail-residential complex, just north of Bellevue Square. New York firm Silverstein Capital Partners now owns the project, which began in 2021 under Fortress Development, JTM Construction and Weber Thompson. About 1.2 million square feet has been built to date, with an estimated cost of around $1 billion. A possible future phase is also in the offing.
Garden Style Multifamily Development: The Tilden, in Lacey, was developed by Tarragon (also the builder), working with Milbrandt Architects. The 216-unit project opened last year. The nearly 10-acre project is north of Interstate 5, near the Hawks Prairie Golf Course.
Podium Style Multifamily Development: Grand Street Commons. In the Rainier Valley, a short walk north to Judkins Park Station, this three-building project from Lake Union Partners, HAL Real Estate and Mt. Baker Housing has 775 mixed-income units, plus retail. The team also included Runberg Architecture Group and W.G. Clark Construction.
High-Rise Residential Development: First Light. Condos have been selling for several months now in the 48-story downtown tower at Third and Virginia. Sales have been closing in a range from about $1 million to $2.3 million for the 459 units. Developer Westbank worked with K.M. Cheng Architects, MG2, Graham Construction and Build Group on the project, which began in 2020. It also has offices and retail.
Office Development: In downtown Bellevue, The Eight also helped earn Skanska Developer of the Year honors. Pickard Chilton designed the LEED-certified project, which Skanska built. Besides Pokemon, tenants include Trade Desk and the coming Sabine Cafe. The latter will slot into the lobby, which also features a vinyl album listening lounge and many other amenities.
Office Interior: Brooks recently expanded its HQ to the new 3500 Stone Way N. building (aka CornerStone, fka 35 Stone), just north of its retail store near the Burke-Gilman Trail. Sellen built the airy office project — and did the interiors for Brooks. NBBJ was the interiors architect, with its handsome mass-timber elements exposed, while Weber Thompson designed the building.
Redevelopment/Renovation: Symetra Center in Bellevue. This 39-year-old office tower received a comprehensive refresh, which owner Sterling Realty Organization valued at $40 million. Architect CollinsWoerman worked with Turner Construction and Grayscale Design Studio (interiors) to reposition the 450,000-square-foot building. SRO now says that its broker, Broderick Group, has signed or renewed 92,000 square feet since the renovations.
Retail/F&B/Entertainment Development: A little north of downtown Tacoma, facing Commencement Bay, the Puyallup Tribe purchased an empty restaurant building four years ago. Once home to C.I. Shenanigans, it's been renovated to become the Woven Seafood & Chophouse, which is run by Chef Roy Yamaguchi. Ferguson Architecture and Korsmo Construction collaborated on the job.
Brian Miller can be
reached by email at brian.miller@djc.com or by phone at (206) 219-6517.