Feb 07, 2002

Vulcan Inc.

Sharon Coleman next week will move from Wright Runstad & Co. to a real estate development manager position for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's real estate activities. Coleman has been a project manager at Wright Runstad, a large Seattle-based office developer. Allen's Vulcan Inc. has various large projects on the drawing board, with redevelopment of South Lake Union becoming the most active for now. Vulcan spokesman Michael Nank said Coleman will work on South Lake Union along with real estate development director Jim Mueller, but also work on other projects.

Marcus & Millichap

Sheppard

Apartment broker Robert Sheppard was the top producer last year in the Puget Sound area for the brokerage of Marcus & Millichap. The firm's other top local producers were Steve Steadele, Robert DiPietrae, Larry Corkins and Dan Swanson, the firm said.

John L. Scott

Fallon

Celia Fallon became a residential agent in John L. Scott Real Estate's Issaquah office. Fallon is an experienced agent who specializes in new construction and has represented Lexington Fine Homes, John F. Buchan and Quadrant Homes. She currently is sales manager for Northward Homes at both Grass Lawn Village and Ravena at Issaquah Highlands. She received the 1998 Mame Award for best salesperson in new construction single-family detached. Before entering the real estate field, Fallon received a BFS degree in textile design from the University of Washington and an AA degree in interior design from Bellevue Community College. She's a member of the American Institute of Interior Designers.

Windermere

Northrop

Stacy J. White became a residential sales associate in Windermere Real Estate's Mercer Island office. White's family has owned and operated a real estate agency, property management and escrow firm for more than 25 years. Tressa Northrop joined Windermere's Magnolia office as a sales associate. Northrop previously worked as an assistant manager with Gene Juarez Salons. She has been a Queen Anne resident for the past 10 years and will specialize for Windermere in the Queen Anne, Belltown and Magnolia areas.

Jan 31, 2002

Affordable Housing Advisory Council

Kazama

Blake Kazama became Alaska's three-year representative on Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle's Affordable Housing Advisory Council, which guides the bank's board on how it can help improve affordable housing in the west. Kazama works as executive director of the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority in Alaska and is president of the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities. "I want to see what the Home Loan Bank can do to help economic development in Alaska's rural communities," Kazama said. "We need help building up flagging local economies so people can have jobs and, in turn, become homeowners. I also plan to establish a method of tracking and measuring the bank's impact on Alaska's rural communities."

The latest housing heroes

Seven people received 2001 Washington Housing Hero awards for getting legislation passed to overcome hindrances to a 1999 law that exempted nonprofit low-income housing from paying property taxes.

The 1999 law removed property taxes on "very-low-income rental housing owned by nonprofit organizations financed with state or local funding that serve populations that are predominantly at or below 50 percent of the area median income," according to the hero awards' sponsors, the Washington Low Income Housing Congress and the Washington Low Income Housing Network.

Then-Department of Revenue Director Fred Kiga, now Gov. Gary Locke's chief of staff, "identified issues making it difficult to implement" the 1999 law, the two groups said. As a result, the Legislature last year passed House Bill 2098 and Senate Bill 6092 "to correct the technical problems in (the 1999) law," the two groups said. "Kiga made these bills a priority for the Department of Revenue."

For this, the two housing groups named Kiga as a housing hero along with the following legislators who pushed the bills through: state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle; Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane; Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park; Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle; Rep. Carolyn Edmonds, D-Shoreline; and Rep. John Pennington, R-Carrolls.

"Tenant incomes have not risen as much as maintenance, utilities and operating costs," said Carla Okigwe, executive director of the Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County. "Without the property tax exemption, many nonprofit would have to raise their rents beyond the reach of current tenants. Given the shortage of low-cost housing, some of these tenants could have become homeless."

Lynn Davison, chair of the Low Income Housing Congress, described the 2001 legislative session as "very, very tough, and (yet) the housing agenda faired well."

Colliers International

George

Bruininks

Michael George was promoted to senior vice president in the Seattle office of the commercial brokerage Colliers International. George is an 11-year Colliers office broker working in office leasing and sales in south King County. He's a University of Washington graduate. In one of his bigger deals last year, he represented the Hanson family in their $9.7 million sale of the Valley Ridge Corporate Center to the city of Seatac, which intends to build its new City Hall there. Colliers also promoted industrial broker Brian Bruininks to vice president.

Microsofties talk to CREW Feb. 14

Microsoft real estate decision-makers may pull back the curtain slightly on the company's activities at a Feb. 14 Commercial Real Estate Women luncheon. Kevin Williams, Randy Hamblin, Jim Stanton and Martha Clarkson will talk as a panel at the noon event at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle. Williams works as group manager for the Microsoft team that handles new construction and large renovations in the Puget Sound area. Hamblin works in design, permitting, leasing and acquisition of new facilities. Stanton works on creating the company's new Issaquah campus. Clarkson is workplace design manager. For more information, call CREW at (206) 361-6859.

Investing in home loans

Puget Sound Home Mortgage has scheduled a March 14 seminar about why investing in home loans can make sense. Dan McLaughlin and June Lu will talk at the event, which starts at 6:15 p.m. in Stewart Title's Seatac offices at 18000 International Blvd. For information, contact Lu at (425) 235-7540.