Jun 26, 2003

Unico, R.D. Merrill

Pettit

William Pettit Jr., president of Seattle-based R.D. Merrill Co., joined the board of Unico Investment Co., parent of Seattle-based Unico Properties. That makes him the first Unico board member not directly related to, or closely associated with, one of Unico's six founding partners. The partners started Unico 50 years ago to manage the University of Washington's Metropolitan Tract in downtown Seattle. Pettit joined R.D. Merrill 10 years ago after 18 years with Seafirst Bank and Pacific First Bank. He was instrumental in the 1993 formation of Merrill Gardens, the second largest privately held assisted-living company in the country. Merrill Gardens owns and operates 62 communities in 14 states. Unico now operates 6 million square feet of offices in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Renton, San Francisco, Portland and Boise.

Trammell Crow

Williams

Trammell Crow Co. named George Williams, who manages the real estate firm's Seattle-area operations, to the additional position of Operating Committee member. The Operating Committee sets the company's direction, including overall business strategy and leadership of 6,200 employees nationwide. Williams joined Trammell Crow in 1989, serving institutional and corporate clients. He was named area director for global services for Seattle and the Puget Sound region in June 2001.

Quadrant Corp.

Kristin Jensen of Quadrant Corp. will speak at the next lunch meeting of Commercial Real Estate Women on Quadrant's Redmond Ridge master-planned community. She'll cover the challenges that face a large development of this sort. A Quadrant publicist said 12 to 15 families recently camped out for several days to get on a list to buy one of the 35 new homes at Redmond Ridge that will go up for sale on Saturday. Some of those homes will sell for below $240,000. The CREW event is scheduled for noon July 10 at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle. For information, call CREW at (206) 361-6859.

John L. Scott

Tainter

Gordon Tainter bought the John L. Scott Real Estate office in Woodinville at 13930 N.E. Mill Place. Tainter, a 10-year residential real estate veteran, was previously broker in charge of the 15-agent office. He joined John L. Scott in 1997.

P.O'B Apollo

Phil Montgomery's Dallas-based P.O'B Apollo sold the 116,886-square-foot Highlands Center shopping center on Highway 395 in Kennewick to a Northwest investment partnership for $6.1 million. Tenants include REI and a Rite-Aid. Colliers International broker Paul Sleeth represented P.O'B. The deal finishes P.O'B's selling of its three Tri-City's strip shopping centers, but Sleeth said P.O'B will look to buy others there.

Jun 19, 2003

HouseValues

Morris

Powell

Ian Morris was promoted to chief executive officer of Bellevue-based HouseValues Inc., a four-year-old firm that provides residential real estate agents with technology and Internet marketing services. Founder Mark Powell held the CEO title but is now chairman. Morris is a Harvard Business School graduate who headed Microsoft's MSN HomeAdvisor until he joined HouseValues last year as executive vice president of marketing. He rose to HouseValues' chief operating officer nine months ago. Realtor Magazine named Morris one of the 25 most influential people in real estate in 2000. Powell was named Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002 by Ernst & Young. HouseValues officials say the firm has been profitable for the past two years and is growing.

John L. Scott

Williams

Lon Williams was hired as vice president of network operations for John L. Scott Real Estate, reporting to network senior vice president Dean Rebhuhn. Williams is responsible for growing the Seattle-based residential agency's network of franchises in the Western United States and supporting existing franchises in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Williams came from Naples, Fla., where the 25-year industry veteran managed a Coldwell Banker Real Estate office that sold primarily luxury homes. Williams operated a real estate consulting firm for 10 years and was the general manager for more than 300 offices for Prudential Real Estate Affiliates.

Windermere

Mike Obermeyer and Melanie Polik became sales associates in Windermere Real Estate's Ballard office. Obermeyer previously worked for the King County budget office in Seattle. He holds a master's degree in public administration. Polik is new to real estate. James Goodman joined Windermere's Magnolia office as a sales associate. He came from John L. Scott Real Estate. Elisabeth Worm joined Windermere's Eastlake office, also from John L. Scott.

LIHI, Pyatok win award

Meadowbrook View

The Low Income Housing Institute in Seattle and architect Tom Eanes of Pyatok Architects won a national Fannie Mae Maxwell Award for Excellence for development of the 50-unit Meadowbrook View apartments at 11032 Lake City Way N.E. The sloped, L-shape site borders Lake City Way, a heavy commercial area to the west and a single-family neighborhood to the east. The four-building complex consists of 13 three- and four-bedroom townhouse units and 37 flats over ground-floor commercial space and parking, centered around two courtyards. Fifteen of the units are reserved for homeless families, with the rest for families earning up to 60 percent of area median income. Construction finished late last year. The general contractor was Walsh Construction. The city of Seattle's Office of Housing put $1.6 million into the project.

Central waterfront planning forum

A two-day forum on planning Seattle's central waterfront is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, and Saturday, June 28, at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, sponsored by City Design, the Seattle Planning Commission, the Port of Seattle and the Seattle Design Commission. There will be three opening sessions in the evening of June 26 and then a full morning of activities on June 28. Speakers will include the port's Tom Tierney, architect-urban planner Michael Sorkin, Pomegranate Center's Milenko Matanovic, former Vancouver, B.C., City Councilor Gordon Price, Deputy Seattle Mayor Tim Ceis and other city officials and planners. Topics include transportation, fixing or replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the waterfront seawall, sustainable development and how to get things done. For more information go to www.cityofseattle.net/DCLU/CentralWaterfront/Overview.asp