Apr 07, 2000

Windermere

Windermere Foundation director Christine Wood was recently appointed to the steering committee for Washington State's Rural Continuum of Care Plan. The committee conducts homeless planning for the state of Washington. Wood joins the committee that is comprised of directors of government and social service agencies from across the state.

Coombs joins Spieker Properties

Scott Coombs has migrated to Spieker Properties' busy Bellevue office, becoming one of three vice presidents there.

Coombs worked the past two years for Unico Properties in charge of leasing Skyline Tower, a downtown Bellevue office high-rise that Unico bought two years ago.

Before Unico, Coombs ran the Bellevue office of the commercial brokerage Colliers International. His background also includes working for Koll Co., when it started the North Creek business park in Bothell, and Skinner Development.

Coombs joins vice presidents Rich Gervais and Richard Leider in steering Spieker's buildup of its Puget Sound-area office portfolio, said Jim Eddy, Northwest president for the California-based real estate investment trust.

Spieker has bought more office properties in the Bellevue market than any other buyer in the last three years, even more than Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties Trust, downtown Bellevue's dominant office landlord.

Spieker's office portfolio now stands at 2 million square feet, and Spieker plans to both buy and build more. The REIT has been selling off its $200 million Seattle-area industrial portfolio to shift into office buildings instead.

Spieker executives recently said they've got at least another office acquisition in their sights. They're also in the early stages of trying to build a downtown Bellevue office high-rise on the south side of Northeast Eighth Street between 108th and 110th avenues northeast.

Redfield will focus on shopping centers

Former Gramor Development principal Richard Embry and former Associated Grocers real estate executive Dorrie Johnson have teamed up to start a Mountlake Terrace-based shopping center development company called Redfield Development.

During Embry's 10 years with Gramor, the Lynnwood company built almost 1 million square feet of office and retail, much of it suburban shopping centers in the Puget Sound area and around Portland.

Gramor founder Bob Beaupre retired two years ago when Embry and two other principals bought him out. Embry left Gramor last fall.

Johnson comes from Olson Capital, where she led development of Olson grocery stores. She worked 10 years in development for Associated Grocers, and at Safeway and Transnation Title.

"Our forte is working for neighborhood shopping center tenants," Embry said. "We're out looking for sites for Fred Meyer, Albertson's and others like that."

Johnson is also serving as a consultant for Johnson Underwood Properties' planned 400,000-square-foot retail project on a former gravel mine next to Interstate 90 in Issaquah.

Embry is consulting on Rainier Court, a new Rainier Valley shopping center being developed by the nonprofit Southeast Effective Development. Rainier Court is north of Rainier Valley Square, which Gramor developed for SEED.

Two tenants for Quadrant Willows

Wireless engineer Elektrobit will increase its space to 20,236 square feet in this Redmond office project while electronic devices distributor TTI signed a lease for 7,404 square feet. The two leases leave the 25-acre complex with just 60,000 square feet left to fill.

Elektrobit will move from 5,500 square feet in the complex. Tom Bohman of Cushman & Wakefield represented both Quadrant and Elektrobit in the deal.

TTI, represented by Chris Hughes of Cushman & Wakefield, will move in September from elsewhere in Redmond.

Channel 9 balks at U Village rents

The Channel 9 Store at University Village will close May 1, even though it sells more than the public TV station's other two stores.

"Unfortunately, although the University Village store sells more merchandise than our other locations in Rainier Square (in downtown Seattle) and Redmond Town Center, it also is the most costly of the three to operate," said area store manager Tom Niemi. "Our space at U Village is too large for the amount of traffic we receive and a smaller, more cost-effective location within U Village has not become available." Niemi also said online sales and those via an 800 number have grown.

Wallace Properties

Steve Oswald has joined Wallace Properties Inc.'s commercial real estate division in office leasing and investment brokering. Oswald came from a start-up computer company, where he worked briefly after retiring as a fishing boat captain, most recently with Aleutian Spray Fisheries. He studied business at the University of Washington.

Norris Beggs & Simpson

Joe Baer was promoted from senior marketing consultant to associate vice president at Norris Beggs & Simpson. Baer, who buys and sells apartment buildings, was also named one of the Portland-based brokerage's top five producers for last year.

Martin Smith Development

Roger Sawicki was named a principal of Seattle-based Martin Smith Development Corp., where he has led development of various significant projects. "Most notably, he has been instrumental in bringing Millennium Tower out of the ground, on time, and under budget," said a Martin Smith release. Millennium is a 20-story office-and-condos tower under construction north of Pioneer Square. Sawicki has worked at Martin Smith Development for 2 1/2 years.

Opus Northwest

Brian Foster has joined Bellevue-based Opus Northwest as a construction superintendent. His first job is tenant improvements at Opus Center@Union Station.

Opus also added two people to its Portland office. Brian Mikulak transferred from the Minneapolis offices of parent company Opus Group of Companies to work as assistant project manager. Mikulak is working on Cornell West and Southwest Center, two suburban Portland office buildings Opus has under development. Both will stand three stories. Cornell will total 120,000 square feet, with Southwest at 92,000. Hank Murphy has become a real estate manager in the Portland office.

UW gets new Metropolitan Tract representative

When Dave Haworth retires this summer to end a long stint as the University of Washington's Metropolitan Tract representative, the school will replace him with an outside company.

Haworth recommended the change.

The tract is a collection of prime downtown Seattle office, retail, hotel and entertainment properties on 10 acres that the university has owned since the school started in that location more than a century ago. The properties provide a substantial revenue source for the school.

Unico Properties manages the tract's office buildings for the school. Haworth's job is to oversee the ground leases of Unico and of the operator of the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, which is on the tract.

The school recently received five responses to a request for proposals from companies interested in Haworth's job. The competitors are: Heitman Properties, Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Seattle-based Kennedy Associates, Seattle-based Seneca Group and Trammell Crow Co.

Haworth recommended the change.

The tract is a collection of prime downtown Seattle office, retail, hotel and entertainment properties on 10 acres that the university has owned since the school started in that location more than a century ago. The properties provide a substantial revenue source for the school.

Unico Properties manages the tract's office buildings for the school. Haworth's job is to oversee the ground leases of Unico and of the operator of the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, which is on the tract.

The school recently received five responses to a request for proposals from companies interested in Haworth's job. The competitors are: Heitman Properties, Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Seattle-based Kennedy Associates, Seattle-based Seneca Group and Trammell Crow Co.