Dec 20, 2001

Verizon to sublease I-90 space

Verizon Wireless is about to put 78,255 square feet of office space up for lease on the Interstate 90 corridor.

The cellular phone company is vacating a Benaroya Co. building in Bellevue at 3600 136th Place S.E., on I-90's south side. The low-rise building is best known for housing some King County offices that moved to Renton before Verizon moved in, said Craig Hill, the Grubb & Ellis broker who will market the sublease space for Verizon.

Verizon operated its training center there, so putting it up for sublease means little movement of employees, Hill said. Verizon houses roughly 2,000 Puget Sound-area employees in five separate Eastgate office buildings along I-90. The company will spread training functions throughout those buildings.

Hill said he'll market the space without posting an asking rent rate, a strategy some employ in a declining market.

CB Richard Ellis

Joe Baldwin joined the Eastside office of CB Richard Ellis as an office leasing broker. The 10-year veteran lost his job as a Trammell Crow Co. broker this fall as part of Trammell layoffs. Baldwin is a CB vice president.

John L. Scott

Sauer

Martin Sauer became a new sales agent at John L. Scott Real Estate's Kent office. New to selling houses, Sauer holds an MBA from Washington State University. He previously worked for IBM and Integra Telecom.

Seattle-King County Association of Realtors

Fowler

Ron Fowler has become the 2002 president of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors, for a one-year term. Fowler, a 30-year veteran of residential selling, works as an agent for John L. Scott Real Estate's Redmond office.

Outgoing president Pete Gomes of Windermere Real Estate South in Auburn received the Realtor of the Year award. Gomes retired from the Army in 1969, then from Boeing in 1990, when he went into home selling. During his year as association president, the group added more new members than in any other year, and it helped a statewide Real Estate Safety Council. Gomes and his wife of 51 years, both from Hawaii, have eight children, 16 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The association honored Beverly Read of Windermere's Lake Forest Park office with its Realtor Achievement award. Philip Matricardi of Coldwell Banker Bain in Seattle was government affairs volunteer of the year. Mary Ann Vandergriff of Windermere-Fauntleroy received the community service award.

Peggy Long of Pro-Spec Home Inspections in Auburn was named affiliate of the year. Affiliate community service went to Sue Tarabochia of First American Title in Seattle. The Fremont Public Association took the Pacesetter Award, while the President's Award went to Roni Strupat of Windermere Real Estate South's referral services in Federal Way.

Windermere

Kevin Bohnert became a sales associate in Windermere Real Estate's Queen Anne office. Bohnert has been a customer service manager with American Airlines for the past 15 years.

Miriam Black joined the firm's Eastlake office. She was president of Pacific Training Network in Redmond. She's also a documentary film maker who produced the short film "Marching On," which was screened at the Seattle Film Festival.

Diane Lembo Talley moved up from assistant to sales associate in the firm's Ballard office. Talley earlier worked as a professional ballet dancer and instructor.

Dec 13, 2001

Interim Solutions LLC

Tracy Giles started a Seattle-based commercial real estate consulting firm named Interim Solutions LLC. Giles, who has 15 years of experience, will provide due diligence, project management and financial services. She worked until recently as an assistant project manager with what she calls a "heavy emphasis on the financial side" for Teutsch Partners in Seattle. She closed seven construction loans and three investment offerings during her two years at Teutsch. Before that she worked as contract administrator for Winmar, the former Safeco Insurance real estate subsidiary.

Plymouth Housing Group

Christopher Brown, Julie Wade, Ken Carter, Lyn Krizanich and Mary Stevens joined the board of Plymouth Housing Group. Brown is a tax and business attorney. Wade, who moved to the area from Texas 20 years ago, is also a lawyer, working for Starbucks. She worked 10 years at the Seattle Housing Authority. Carter, who grew up in Japan, has worked as a stockbroker for 15 years. Krizanich, who lives near Pike Place Market, has worked for 17 years in commercial development and management. Stevens worked for 13 years as a fundraiser, including as development director for A Contemporary Theater.

Plymouth's latest project is 73 apartments for formerly homeless men and women on the former Ivar's site on Lower Queen Anne, at First Avenue and Denny Way. Construction is expected to begin soon on the six-story structure, which will include first-floor retail. Plymouth assembled $9 million in funds from the Washington Housing Finance Commission, the National Equity Fund, the city of Seattle's housing levy, the state, Seattle Housing Authority, Washington Mutual, Federal Home Loan Bank and Impact Capital.

Marcus & Millichap

Robert Di Pietrae received the CCIM Institute's Certified Commercial Investment Member designation. Di Pietrae, who specializes in brokering sales of affordable housing complexes in Oregon and Washington, has worked at Marcus & Millichap since 1990. He's now a senior associate.

Cain & Scott

Dick Duncan is a sales agent for the Seattle-based apartment brokerage of Cain & Scott. Duncan holds a degree in economics from Harvard. He has brokered apartments, developed about 300 units and arranged financing for several thousand units as a representative of other parties, Cain & Scott said.

John L. Scott

Brian Hauer has been hired as a residential agent in John L. Scott Real Estate's Laurelhurst office. The firm described him as a "second-generation Realtor." The Auburn office added Jim Ferguson, Levi Venn, Scott Bergen and Vera Dekhtyar as agents.

Issaquah added Bob Young, David Arnold, Eliza Stephenson, Debbie Scavotto and Jeff Wickland. The Magnolia office added Bob Bouffiou, Karen Young, Karen Wiginton, Michael Southwick and Ian Pharmes. Bellevue South landed Cheryl Lewis and Christian Crijanovschi.

The firm's third-generation owner and president, J. Lennox Scott, meanwhile, became a member of the National Association of Realtors' Executive Committee, starting Jan. 1, and will serve a year. The committee totals 45 members; 39 are elected and six are appointed by the Chicago-based association's president. Scott received one of the six appointments by president Martin Edwards.

HomeSight

Wells Fargo Bank gave $250,000 to a new revolving loan fund set up by the non-profit, low-income housing developer HomeSight to help people buy Puget Sound-area homes. The city of Seattle previously contributed $1.1 million to the fund, now available to home buyers.